The Giants did not move Sterling Shepard to the reserve/PUP list Tuesday, despite sending multiple other offensive contributors (Nick Gates, Matt Peart) to the list early. That inaction will precede a return to practice for the longest-tenured Giant.
Shepard, who is coming off an Achilles tear sustained in December, will return to practice Wednesday, Brian Daboll said. This will mark a key checkpoint for Shepard, who can no longer be stashed on the team’s PUP list to start the season. It is not a lock Shepard returns for Week 1, but a re-emergence during the team’s September slate looks likely.
This Giants team features a glut of receivers, though it is unknown if each of their four notable veterans — Shepard, Darius Slayton, Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney — will be on the 53-man roster alongside second-round pick Wan’Dale Robinson. Slayton has long looked like the odd man out. As for Shepard, the team reached a restructure agreement — what amounted to a pay cut — to keep him around this year. This will be Shepard’s seventh Giants season.
The only remaining holdover from the Jerry Reese GM regime, the former second-round pick signed a four-year, $41MM extension during Dave Gettleman‘s GM run. The 2019 deal has preceded modest results, with injuries — a steady theme during the talented wideout’s career — interfering regularly.
Still, having Shepard back stands to help Daniel Jones in his contract year. Shepard missed time for multiple ailments in 2021, playing only seven games for a dreadful Giants offense — one that did not have Jones for a chunk of the season. In 12 2020 games, Shepard caught 66 passes for 656 yards and three touchdowns.
Shepard isn’t so much a Jerry Reese special as he is the last man remaining from the Boat Trip. The Giants have had the NFL’s worst cumulative record since the day Shepard and his friends Odell Beckham and Victor Cruz struck a pose on that boat.