Buccaneers Make Announcement on Colorado Undrafted Rookie

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers put together an intriguing crop of rookies when it comes to their work in the 2025 NFL draft, and as is common, they also brought in a handful of undrafted free agents immediately after the draft wrapped up. One guy initially thought to be joining the team was Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Will Sheppard, but the team made a surprising announcement regarding his status recently.

While the Buccaneers are largely well-stocked at wide receiver, especially after their decision to select Emeka Egbuka with the No. 19 overall pick, they initially planned to take a flier on Sheppard after he went undrafted. However, those plans ended up changing due to a development that took place behind the scenes.

Will Sheppard Fails Physical with Buccaneers

After spending the first four seasons of his collegiate career with the Vanderbilt Commodores, Shepard transferred to Colorado for the 2024 campaign to play for Deion Sanders. He certainly didn’t receive the amount of attention that guys like Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter got, but Sheppard enjoyed a strong season with the Buffaloes.

In his lone season with Colorado, Sheppard caught 48 passes for 621 yards and six touchdowns. While Sheppard is a solid player, his upside is somewhat limited, as he never put together a truly dominant season of work in college. Given his NFL readiness, though, the Buccaneers were willing to take a flier on him and see if he could be a prospect they worked on developing into either a starter for them, or a potential trade chip who could land elsewhere.

Those plans were quickly dashed, though, as Sheppard was not announced as part of Tampa Bay’s undrafted free agent class. This was a surprise, as Sheppard was one of the most notable names that was initially revealed to be a part of this crop. According to a recent report, Sheppard ended up failing his physical with the Buccaneers, which resulted in them not signing him to an undrafted free agent contract.

“Colorado receiver Will Sheppard was not among the Bucs’ announced undrafted rookie signings because of a failed physical,” Greg Auman of Fox Sports shared in a post on X.

Buccaneers Wide Receiver Room Without Will Sheppard

Even if Sheppard had stuck around with the Buccaneers, he would have had a tough time immediately carving out a role with the team, as they are stacked at wide receiver. As previously noted, they used their first-round draft pick on Egbuka, but even then, they already had Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Jalen McMillan leading the way at this position, although it is worth noting Godwin is working his way back from a dislocated left ankle.

For now, Sheppard will work on figuring out what went wrong in his physical and getting that cleaned up before his NFL career can continue. There were several other teams interested in him after the draft wrapped up, but it will be worth seeing if this failed physical prevents Sheppard from finding a new home for the time being.