Sterling Shepard‘s reunion with Baker Mayfield is on hold. The Buccaneers are releasing the veteran wide receiver, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. This is unlikely to be the end of the line for the injury-prone wide receiver, however.
As a vested veteran, Shepard will pass straight to free agency. The Bucs have an emergency role in mind for the longtime Giant, with Rapoport adding the team is holding a practice squad spot. Shepard, who played with Mayfield at Oklahoma, could join the team’s P-squad Wednesday.
Shepard, 31, signed with the Bucs in June, doing so after his 2023 Giants season featured few opportunities. The Giants brought Shepard back after another major injury — an Achilles tear sustained midway through the 2022 season — but used him as a backup. Even that overstates how much Shepard played in his eighth Giants season. Shepard logged just 142 offensive snaps in 15 games last season, catching 10 passes for 57 yards and a touchdown.
Tampa Bay will run back its Mike Evans–Chris Godwin tandem for an eighth season, re-signing the perennial 1,000-yard receiver just before free agency. The team also returns 2023 draftee Trey Palmer and used a third-round pick on Washington’s Jalen McMillan. Shepard will join Rakim Jarrett in being left off the 53-man roster; the second-year receiver is expected to be placed on IR to open the year.
Formerly an Odell Beckham Jr. sidekick in New York, Shepard received an extension and logged several more seasons after the team traded the once-dynamic wideout. Shepard has not topped 700 receiving yards in a season since 2018, though he did reach 656 in 2020. The veteran slot player teamed with Mayfield in 2015 at Oklahoma and was in communication with his former college quarterback this offseason, leading to this Bucs agreement.
Shepard will soon be tied to a lower-cost deal with Tampa Bay, should he want to accept a deal to join a P-squad. This would be a first for the former second-round pick, but given his injury history (35 missed games since 2019), a Tampa taxi squad stay might be his only option to remain in the NFL.
Always seemed like the most likely outcome. Wonder whether he hangs around for phone calls this year or calls it a day.
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