NFL players rarely get to team up with their college buddies at the next level, but that scenario is coming true for Baker Mayfield and Sterling Shepard, after the Oklahoma City native signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday, first reported by NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo.
Shepard spent his first eight seasons in the league with the New York Giants after being drafted in the second round in 2016. In 90 regular season games, he finished with 372 receptions, 4,095 yards, and 23 touchdowns, leaving the Giants in fifth place in career receptions.
Shepard has battled injuries throughout his career, including a torn Achilles in 2021, a torn ACL in 2022,2 and even pondered retirement. Instead, the Buccaneers hope that the veteran wideout can get a fresh start with a familiar face in Mayfield.
The duo connected on 86 passes for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns in the 2015 season at Oklahoma. That year, the Sooners benefited greatly from their chemistry and made the program's first College Football Playoff appearance against Clemson where they fell 37-17 in the Orange Bowl.
One of the more memorable sequences of the tandem's time together that season came in their 31-24 victory over Tennessee on the second weekend of the year. Oklahoma overcame a 17-point deficit in Knoxville and Mayfield found Shepard for an 18-yard touchdown pass in double overtime.
Baker Mayfield to Sterling Shepard will forever be one of the all-time favorite duo’s from the Oklahoma fanbase.
— Ross Lovelace (@Rosslovelace) June 6, 2024
Pretty cool to see them reunited again. https://t.co/cL0gjDzIwU pic.twitter.com/SQ9wUyYfvO
Mayfield made his first Pro Bowl appearance last season with the Buccaneers and had a career-best completion percentage (64.3), passing yards (4,0444), touchdowns (28), and passer rating (94.6). With the addition of Shepard, Mayfield now has another weapon at his disposal to go along with Pro-Bowler Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The move will only strengthen a team that won the NFC South and reached the second round of the postseason a season ago.
As Tampa Bay looks poised to compete for the division crown once again, Shepard offers versatility as a receiver and can be utilized in the slot or on the outside. Wherever they plug him in, the reunion between the two former teammates should have a positive outcome for everyone involved in the organization and it gives Sooner fans another reason to root for the Buccaneers this upcoming season.