Player: Sterling Shepard
Position: Wide Receiver
Age at the Start of the 2026 Season: 33
Experience: Entering 11th NFL season
How Acquired: Signed as a free agent on July 10, 2024. Re-signed for the 2025 season on March 24, 2025. Shepard was originally a second-round draft pick of the New York Giants in 2024.
Previous Contract(s): In 2016, Shepard signed the standard four-year contract that all players drafted in Rounds 2-7 receive, in his case with the Giants. In 2019, prior to the final season of that deal, he agreed to a four-year extension that ran through the 2023 campaign.
Rank in Pro Football Focus Top 250 NFL Free Agents for 2026: Not ranked.
2025 Performance: Shepard played in the first 13 games of the season, starting two contests, before sitting out the final four. He was active but did not get into the team's Week 14 contest against Atlanta, then was inactive for the last three games of the season. As noted above, he finished with 39 receptions for 371 yards and one score. That catch total ranked fourth among all Buccaneers in 2025 and second among wide receivers.
Shepard produced the majority of that stat line in the first half of the season, when the team was dealing with various absences from Evans, Godwin and McMillan. He had 26 of his 39 catches and 267 yards in he first seven weeks. That included a season-high seven catches against Detroit in Week Seven and a high of 80 yards on four grabs against the Jets in Week Three. His lone touchdown of the season was a big one for the Buccaneers. In a Week Five shootout win over the eventual Super Bowl champion Seahawks in Seattle, Shepard worked free in the back of the end zone and a scrambling Mayfield found him for an 11-yard touchdown that tied the game at 35-35 with just over a minute left in regulation.
Career Accomplishments: In 10 NFL seasons, Shepard has played in 117 games and made 81starts, including 27 games and seven starts for the Buccaneers. His career totals so far include443 receptions for 4,800 yards and 25 touchdowns. He has also carried the ball 36 times for 274 yards and an additional score, including 12 runs for 88 yards as a Buccaneer.
Shepard was very productive early in his career for the Giants, catching at least 57 passes in each of his first five seasons and scoring 18 touchdowns in that span. In his last three seasons in New York he appeared in just 25 games and thus saw his production dip. Nevertheless, he ranks fifth in Giants history with 372 receptions for the franchise.
Other Potential Free Agent Wide Receivers: George Pickens (Cowboys), Deebo Samuel (Commanders), Alec Pierce (Colts), Romeo Doubs (Packers), Jauan Jennings (49ers), Wan'Dale Robinson (Giants), Rashid Shaheed (Seahawks), Christian Kirk (Texans), Keenan Allen (Chargers), Jalen Nailor (Vikings)
Top Wide Receiver Prospects in 2026 NFL Draft: Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State), Carnell Tate (Ohio State), Makai Lemon (USC), Denzel Boston (Washington), Chris Brazzell (Tennessee), KC Concepcion (Texas A&M), Elijah Sarratt (Indiana), Antonio Williams (Clemson), Eugene Wilson (Florida), Malachi Fields (Notre Dame), Skyler Bell (Connecticut), Deion Burks (Oklahoma), CJ Daniels (Miami), Zachariah Branch (Georgia)