The Jets are signing veteran wide receiver Sterling Shepard to their practice squad.

Shepard's signing, as first reported by ESPN's Mike Garafolo, comes after he failed to make the Houston Texans roster out of training camp and went unsigned during Week 1. Garafolo added the Jets brought in several players for workouts on Tuesday, including JuJu Smith-Schuster.

The 33-year-old spent the first eight years of his career with the Giants before playing the last two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The transaction comes with rookie WR Omar Cooper Jr. expected to miss a few weeks due to an ankle sprain he sustained in the Week 1 win over the Tennessee Titans.

Shepard appeared in 13 games (two starts) with Tampa in 2025 and tallied 371 receiving yards on 39 receptions (53 targets) with one touchdown. During his time with Big Blue from 2016-23, he played 90 games (74 starts) with 4,095 yards and 23 touchdowns.

The Giants drafted him with the 40th overall pick (Round 2) during the 2016 NFL Draft, and he had a stellar rookie campaign: 683 receiving yards on 65 receptions with eight touchdowns as New York went 11-5 and reached the playoffs in then-head coach Ben McAdoo's first year in charge.

Thanks to three solid years to start his career, Shepard signed a four-year, $41 million extension with the Giants ahead of the 2019 season. After two injury-plagued seasons, he signed a one-year deal with the team in 2023, but failed to perform, with just 10 receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown in 15 games that season.

After spending the 2024 season on the Bucs' practice squad, he signed an extension with Tampa ahead of the 2025 season. He remained unsigned until late in the offseason, before spending just over a week in Houston before being released at the end of August.

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