Former New York Giants wide receiver and fan favorite Sterling Shepard is headed back to New York — just not with his old team.
“Back to Jersey for Sterling Shepard: The former Giants WR is signing with the Jets’ practice squad, source says,” NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo wrote on his official X account on Tuesday. “After a stint with the Texans in camp, Shepard heads to Florham Park … with Omar Cooper Jr. injured, the Jets brought in a few receivers for a workout today, including JuJu Smith-Schuster. Shepard lands the gig.”
Cooper, 1 of 3 1st-round picks by the Jets in 2026, was injured in Sunday’s season-opening win over the Tennessee Titans.
“The Jets are signing WR Sterling Shepard to their practice squad,” SNY Jets wrote on its official X account. “Shepard, the former Giant, has 4,800 career receiving yards and spent the last two seasons with the Buccaneers.”
“That’s an interesting one: Sterling Shepard to the Jets practice squad with Omar Cooper expected to miss some time,” The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt wrote on his official X account on Tuesday.
“Sterling Shepard had 71 catches and 700+ combined over the last two years in Tampa,” The Jet Press wrote on X. “Capable veteran slot WR who can fill in and play a few depth snaps with Cooper and Patrick out. I imagine he’ll be elevated rather quickly, possibly as soon as Week 2. Should be WR4 over Smith.”
Sterling Shepard Spent Almost Decade With Giants
Shepard, 33, was a 2nd-round pick (No. 40 overall) by the Giants in the 2016 NFL Draft and played the 1st 8 seasons of his career with the Giants before playing the last 2 seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Most notably, the Giants signed Shepard to a 4-year, $41 million contract extension before the 2019 season.
In 8 seasons with the Giants, Shepard had 372 receptions for 4,095 yards and 23 touchdowns in 90 regular-season games.
Bucs Made Classy Move With Shepard’s Contract
Despite coming up short on several bonus clauses in his contract, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers still paid Shepard an extra $500,000 in incentives for the 2025 season — mainly as a “Thank You” for being such an incredible team player this season.
“Cool move by the Bucs — receiver Sterling Shepard was inactive the last four games as other WRs got healthy, and finished one catch and 29 yards short of $125,000 incentives as a result,” Fox Sports NFL reporter Greg Auman wrote in a series of posts on X. “Team paid out both, and an additional $250k for $500k as a separate bonus … Shepard finished with 39 catches for 371 yards, and had incentives paying $125k each for reaching 40 and 50 catches, and 400 and 500 receiving yards. They paid out all four as a new $500k bonus as a gesture for his hard work when other WRs were injured.”
Ex-Fan Favorite New York Giants WR Signs With Jets