Sterling Shepard Agrees to Restructured Contract

Sterling Shepard – © USA TODAY Sports

The New York Giants and wide receiver Sterling Shepard have reached an agreement on a restructured contract. While financial details of the new contract are not known, Shepard had two years left on his previous contract and that has now been reduced to one year. He will now become a free agent in 2023 rather than 2024.

Shepard was scheduled to count $12.495 million against the 2022 salary cap with $8,475,000 in salary. He also would have counted $13.495 million against the 2023 salary cap. The Giants signed Shepard to a 4-year, $41 million extension in April 2019 and also re-structured his contract during the 2021 season. If the Giants had cut Shepard, they would have saved $4.505 million against the salary cap but also have been hit with $7.99 million in dead money.

Shepard had a horrible season in 2021, culminating with a torn left Achilles’ tendon injury in mid-December. Before that, Shepard had already missed seven games with hamstring and quad injuries. He finished the year playing in seven games, catching just 36 passes for 366 yards and one touchdown. He also dropped four passes.

Shepard was selected in the 2nd round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Giants. Shepard started all 16 games in 2016 and 2018, but has now missed significant time due to injury in his four other seasons. He has never come close to cracking the 1,000-yard mark in a single season or duplicating his 8-touchdown season of his rookie campaign (he now has 21 career touchdowns).