A lot of the pressure that will either be put on Jameis Winston or Taysom Hill to replace Drew Brees at quarterback for the Saints was expected to be alleviated with the presence of Michael Thomas.

The star wide receiver has been one of the best in the NFL for quite sometime now. With a new quarterback being ushered in with Brees retiring, Thomas was expected to be leaned on even more in 2021. Now, that won't be the case.

Thomas underwent ankle surgery to repair ligaments and now he will miss at least the start of the 2021 season, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. 

It was in 2020 that Thomas suffered an injury early in the season to his ankle that had him sit out for a large chunk of the season for the Saints. The usually durable wideout played in just seven games last year as he made a return late in the season. According to Rapoport, this surgery stemmed from that injury a year ago as the ankle just never recovered.

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As a result, the Saints will be missing their most dynamic receiver to start the season. It's a huge blow to the offense in New Orleans as they try to figure out who the starting quarterback in 2021 will be.

Thomas led the NFL in receptions in 2018 (125 receptions) and 2019 (149 receptions) before his injury plagued 2020 season for the Saints brought things to a halt. Now, the recovery period from his surgery could take him around four months to recover from.

The rest of the wide receiver room will now have to shoulder a bigger workload as the Saints prep either Winston or Hill to takeover at quarterback.