The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed a player who has caught a lot of passes from Baker Mayfield — just not at the professional level.
Veteran wide receiver Sterling Shepard signed a 1-year deal with the Buccaneers on Thursday, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
Shepard spent the first eight years of his career with the New York Giants, who drafted him in the second round in 2016. Shepard was a top wide receiver prospect coming out of college because of the success he had while playing with Mayfield at Oklahoma.
As a senior in 2015, Shepard was Oklahoma’s leading receiver with 86 catches for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns. That was Shepard’s best year in college, and it coincided with Mayfield’s first season as a starter with the Sooners.
Shepard never managed to live up to expectations with the Giants, in large part because of injuries. Most recently, Shepard suffered a torn ACL early in the 2022 season. He returned to appear in 15 games last year but had only 10 total catches. Shepard’s best NFL season was in 2018, when he had 66 catches for 872 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Mayfield signed a big contract extension with Tampa Bay this offseason, as did his favorite receiver Mike Evans. Shepard will have a chance to carve out a role in Tampa if he and Mayfield can turn back the clock.
