It’s not often you can pluck a wide receiver with over 4100 career receiving yards off the street in October, but that’s essentially what Tampa Bay did by adding Sterling Shepard — the longtime New York Giant — to its active roster on Tuesday. Shepard caught three passes from Baker Mayfield on Sunday in Tampa’s win over Philadelphia and now gets a permanent spot on the team’s active roster.
A reliable target in New York for years, Shepard caught 23 touchdowns as a Giant, but injuries plagued his last few seasons in the Meadowlands, limiting his on-field production. Shepard’s best season was 2018, when he caught 66 passes for 872 yards and 4 touchdowns.
The #Buccaneers are signing WR Sterling Shepard to the active roster from their practice squad, source says. A few days after catching three passes for 51 yards against the #Eagles, Shepard is up to the 53-man roster. pic.twitter.com/b7RBC8Kp7d
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 1, 2024
Tampa Bay’s wide receivers room is about as consistent as they come. Both of the team’s top targets, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, have spent their whole careers in Tampa Bay. Evans was drafted by the Bucs in 2014, and Godwin in 2017. Together, the duo has combined for nearly 20,000 receiving yards, a pretty stunning string of consistent production that you don’t see often in the NFL.
Outside of those two, though, Tampa Bay is relatively thin at wide receiver. Running back Rachaad White is Tampa’s third-leading receiver, a spot Shepard might be able to occupy. And with Baker Mayfield’s propensity to spread the love to multiple targets, Shepard could be in store for a bigger workload than it appears. Plus, Mayfield pushed for Shepard to sign with the Bucs originally, before the season even started, so the two clearly have a good relationship…