Michael Thomas makes Saints history and inches closer to NFL receiving record

Michael Thomas broke his own Saints single-season reception record on Monday against the Colts has he approaches Marvin Harrison’s NFL record mark

Michael Thomas is the gift that keeps on giving for New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

Brees looked to his favorite target nine times during the opening half of the Saints game against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night. Thomas caught all nine passes for 108 yards and a touchdown and is now up to 130 receptions on the season, a Saints single-season record.

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Thomas is just 13 away from Marvin Harrison’s NFL record of 143 catches, set in 2002 with the Indianapolis Colts. It would be another milestone in the already record-setting career for the fourth-year pro.

Thomas already owns the three highest single-season reception totals in Saints history. He’s only the second player in NFL history with three straight 100-catch seasons within his first four seasons, joining Brandon Marshall. And he’s the second player with two seasons of at least 125 catches, along with Antonio Brown.

The 26-year-old wide receiver out of Ohio State has 449 catches over his first four seasons in the NFL, the most by any receiver in history. Jerry Rice, by comparison, only had 264. Current Browns receiver Jarvis Landry owned the previous record with 400.

Thomas also leads the NFL with 1,532 receiving yards this season and is on pace for 1,815, which would be the fifth-highest single-season total in history. Always reliable, Saints quarterbacks have targeted him 156 times this season and he’s dropped just one pass.

Brees and Thomas connected on a 15-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter on Monday against the Colts, putting the Saints up 10-0. They currently lead 20-0 at halftime as Brees has tied Peyton Manning’s all-time record of 539 touchdown passes.