The Lions have been looking for consistent receiving threats to match with Calvin Johnson for a while now, but Mike Thomas won’t be the answer to their search.
Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports that Detroit released the veteran wideout. The Lions acquired Thomas in a trade with the Jaguars before the trade deadline last year and he had five catches for 28 yards in nine games with the team.
The decision to cut bait on Thomas doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Reports out of Detroit had Thomas struggling badly early in camp, which started the slide toward Monday’s news.
Thomas was a relatively productive slot target for the Jaguars in 2010, when he caught 66 passes for 820 yards and four touchdowns, but that year looks like an outlier next to his middling production in his other four years as a professional. He’s just 26, so there may be another shot with another team but Thomas will have to rediscover that old level of productivity to significantly increase his time in the NFL.