Bucs bring back WR Sterling Shepard, place him on practice squad

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-signed veteran wide receiver Sterling Shepard and placed him on the practice squad, the team announced Thursday.

The Bucs had released Shepard, 31, on Monday in trimming the roster to the initial 53 players before Tuesday's deadline. Shepard, who had signed a one-year, $1.38 million contract with the team in June after eight seasons with the New York Giants, had missed most of training camp and the preseason with an unspecified injury.

"Early on, he showed a lot," Bucs coach Todd Bowles said after Shepard was released. "Then he got injured, missed a lot of time. And that, obviously, has to weigh in on it. Hopefully, we can get him back in some capacity because when he was fresh and he was good, he made a lot of plays."

Coming to the Bucs meant Shepard reuniting with quarterback Baker Mayfield, a teammate at Oklahoma.

Shepard caught 10 passes for 57 yards and one touchdown in 15 games (two starts) with the Giants in 2023.

The 2016 second-round pick left New York with 372 catches for 4,095 yards and 23 TDs in 90 games (74 starts).

--Field Level Media