Russell Shepard Popular Now
March 8th, 2017
Not a No. 3 WR.
This is not encouraging for the Buccaneers.
It seems Russell Shepard is a very popular man these days. Given the fact he’s a free agent, the Bucs very well could lose a key special teams player, types Jenna Laine of ESPN.
A source told ESPN that Shepard currently has interest from six teams, including the Bucs. About half of those teams want to make him a legitimate No. 3 wide receiver, with the possibility of being a No. 2. The other teams have offered to make him “one of the highest-paid special-teams players in the league with multiple offensive packages,” the source said.
Well, the Bucs have been down this road before. Shepard simply is not a No. 3 receiver. If he was, we wouldn’t have been kvetching all last season over Cecil Shorts and Freddie Martino and Bernard Reedy and Josh Huff and the Bucs wouldn’t be hellbent trying to land DeSean Jackson in free agency.
Shepard is a wonderful special teams ace and just an OK receiver in spot duty. Nothing more.
The Bucs already have a No. 3 receiver. His name is Adam Humphries.
Joe loves Shepard, but Joe also lives in the world of reality. If Shepard is trying to hold the Bucs hostage on a promise of being a No. 3 receiver, then Joe fears Shepard is gone.
March 8th, 2017 at 7:59 am
I think he has played his last game in Tampa, unless he is willing to take less money then he will bring on the open market.
March 8th, 2017 at 8:02 am
I agree Joe, great locker-room guy, special teams ace, and meh WR. This team needs depth at WR. I think you could find other players like Woods, Wright, Aiken or Terrance Williams that could fill a need at WR if the bidding gets to high for Shep
March 8th, 2017 at 8:09 am
It happens. He will go somewhere else for bigger bucks and promised dreams and get cut as soon as his guaranteed money runs out. High aspirations are good when they are balanced by knowing your limitations.
March 8th, 2017 at 8:31 am
Type of player that can’t be let go….can’t neglect special teams…
March 8th, 2017 at 8:35 am
Congrats Shep!
Wish U well brotha
March 8th, 2017 at 8:54 am
This guy is a Captain of the team and came thru in big situations.. i dont think we should take this guy lightly.. lets not act like he can’t perform when called upon either. Keep the glue guys on the team pay the man
March 8th, 2017 at 9:13 am
Don’t wanna see this guy leave but would like that money to go to Robert Wood
March 8th, 2017 at 9:19 am
I think Shep is a legit #2 or # 3 receiver. We’re just loaded with potential 2s and 3s. If he goes else were I hope he hits a good payday. Good luck Shep.
March 8th, 2017 at 9:28 am
Joe
What you want to do is marinate the crow overnight in some Jason Licht pale ale. Be sure to rub it down with lots of butter and a dry rub. Bake on 420 for 69 mins then slice and enjoy.
https://www.joebucsfan.com/2016/10/calm-russell-shepard-hype/
Maybe consider changing the name to joe Bucs haters dot com. Lol. Lmao.
Sorry, Joe isn’t going to pretend Shepard is a special receiver. –Joe
March 8th, 2017 at 9:41 am
Shep would not be the one holding the Bucs hostage, if teams are coming after you, you gotta get that $$, remember what NFL means, would love to keep Shep, ut if he goes elsewhere, they better make sure we have depth at receiver that I think we will do and pay Josh Robinson and hope Ryan Smith continues to improve
March 8th, 2017 at 9:44 am
Go get that paycheck russ. If a team wants to pay you and believe in you as a #2 WR and offensive weapon, take that check and take that opportunity. Bucs fans will miss you on punt & kick coverage but we know better than to pencil you in as a top 3 WR
March 8th, 2017 at 10:04 am
Shep has all the tools to be a top nr 2 receiver but the Bucs didn’t want to let him out of all his Special Team duties, so it will take the Bucs watching him become a big star on another team to figure out what a mistake they made in
not locking him in with a long term contract. This is as dumb as letting the now top DE for the Seahawks leave us with no fight to sign him. Shep made some great clutch catches for this year, but we still played him to sparingly to save him for Special Team duties. Koetter should have just picked up another ST Ace, and played Shep every down as his nr 2 to see for sure that he is worth it!
March 8th, 2017 at 10:17 am
Tragedy. Someone really dropped the ball. He should have been re-signed 2 weeks ago. Bad example for Buc’s with contracts coming up and potential draft picks.
March 8th, 2017 at 10:32 am
Special? no! Better than Louis Murphy and Cecil Short? 100%
And you were never as skeptical of those two as you are with Sheppard. Not sure 6 teams were interested in signing either one of those bums. I’m just saying….
Freddie Martino is another guy that shows potential but you’ll never say it.
#KY
March 8th, 2017 at 11:01 am
Can anyone remember Shep dropping passes? I can’t. I think they didn’t play him because they got gun shy about a top 5 ST player getting hurt playing Offense. It happened in reverse with Jack Smith. Now you have to replace 2 positions. I think that is what hurt Shep. He and Winston seemed to have good chemistry. I’m not saying he is an elite #2 or #3, but neither are 1/2 the 2s and 3s in the league. Very few teams have stars at 1 and 2. If we would have signed a true #2 last year like we should have, then we wouldn’t have to have this conversation and everyone would be just fine with us re-signing Shep.
March 8th, 2017 at 1:05 pm
Not sure how a guy like this gets assigned a fair market value – not too many guys in the league in Shep’s position. He made $1.67M last year. I guess with multiple teams wanting him, Shepard’s value could go as high as 3,4 maybe even $5M per if any teams consider him as a legit option at #3 receiver.
Will be interesting to see how much value the Bucs place on him.
March 8th, 2017 at 1:21 pm
They are going to do to him what they will do to the Affordable Care Act …Repeal and Replace!!
March 8th, 2017 at 1:26 pm
Shepard has never gotten that much respect as a receiver, but why not? Take a look at these 2016 season stats:
Targets Receptions Percentage Yds/Rec
Evans 173 96 55.5% 13.8
Shepard 40 23 57.5% 14.8
His catch percentage and yds. per catch are higher, and the guy plays outstanding special teams. He only gets 2.5 targets per game while Evans its 10.8 per game. Hey, I know he’s not a number one, but let’s not be so disrespectful because it sure looks like he does what’s asked of him very well.
I say resign him, give him more snaps and have Jamies look for him more often down the field, double up on his targets per game. He’s proven he can do it.
March 8th, 2017 at 1:32 pm
You guys have funny allegiances. We run legitimately talented players out the door but want to keep a special teams “ace”. SMH
@DB55-The only reasoning that you can justify your statement with is that he plays special teams. Outside of that, even Murphy’s pathetic receiving stats debunk that statement.
Bye Felicia!
I’m sure that we can find someone to play special teams AND catch the ball!
March 8th, 2017 at 2:16 pm
There is another factor in all this talk about our #3 receiver. If we sign DJAX or another FA that doesn’t mean we won’t be drafting a solid WR to be the successor to DJAX…wouldn’t he be the number 3…or at least unless Hump can clearly beat him out.