Sterling Shepard staying with Giants on re-structured deal, per reports

Sterling Shepard, the longest-tenured member of the New York Giants, will return to the team on a re-structed contract, per NFL.com.

Shepard, coming off a ruptured Achilles tendon that ended his season, was scheduled to make a base salary of $8.475 million this season with a cap hit of $12.495 million. In 2023, those numbers were scheduled to be $9.475 million and $13.495 million.

Terms of the re-structured deal have not yet been reported. Ralph Vacchiano of SNY reported that the final year was wiped off Shepard’s contract, meaning Shepard could head to free agency next offseason.

A 2016 second-round pick, Shepard is the last remaining connection to the Giants’ 2016 playoff team — the last time they went to the playoffs.

He played in a career-low seven games in 2021. He had hamstring, quad and calf injuries before tearing his Achilles.

Shepard, 29, has 349 receptions in his career for 3,884 yards, both eighth on the franchise’s all-time list.

Shepard really had little choice but to accept the pay cut to stay with the Giants. The ruptured Achilles called into question when he might be able to play in 2022, and with that in mind he would likely have had difficulty finding a deal until some time during the season had the Giants released him.