When wide receiver Sterling Shepard signed with the Buccaneers earlier this month, he said his college teammate Baker Mayfield got the ball rolling on bringing him to Tampa.
Shepard said Mayfield texted him to see if he was in shape and his positive response was followed by a call from the Bucs about joining the team. Mayfield confirmed that was the case when he spoke to reporters from the team’s mandatory minicamp on Wednesday.
“We’re down on receivers and we needed some guys to come in and step up,” Mayfield said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. “He’s a veteran guy that’s going into year nine. He’s had some injuries in the past, but he’s looking for a fresh start and obviously I can relate to that part.”
Mayfield called Shepard an “unbelievable guy” in terms of how hard he works and that he “is gonna push everybody around him” as he works to make the team this summer, so there’s more than just the chance to reunite with an old friend behind the move to add Shepard to the roster.