Update: Adalius Thomas has officially been declared inactive for tomorrow’s game against the Panthers. Please subtract one tackle from your projection for tomorrow.

When Adalius Thomas spent his post-LateGate press conference passively bad-mouthing Coach Belichick and the Patriots organization, he may as well have been writing his own Boston obituary. Thomas’ poor handling of his role on the defense and in the locker room has cost this Patriots team and AD’s career profoundly.

Thomas has salaries that would be $4.9 million in 2010 and $5.9 million in 2011 respectively. Provided that their still is a Salary Cap, releasing or trading Thomas would save the Patriots about $5 million in 2010 and $6 million in 2011, while still counting $4.5 million against the cap both years due to signing bonus amortization.

At this point in his career, Adalius would be hard-pressed to find suitors willing to pay him in the $4-5 million dollar range. Thomas will be 33 years old at the start of the 2010 season, coming off of arguably his worst season in the NFL. Thomas has only totaled 3 sacks, 2 interceptions, and a large amount of criticism for playing soft.

According to Michael Holley and former Patriot LB Tedy Bruschi, AD has played his last down for the Patriots. Thomas could be deactivated each game or just made to sit on the bench. It is nearly impossible to outright release Adalius Thomas this year due to his contract structure and salary cap implications.

Let’s move on, and hope we get some good OLB’s in the 2010 NFL Draft.