Tag: Nathan Shepherd

Week 8 unnecessary roughness fine against Saints DT has been overturned

The $11,817 unnecessary roughness fine against Nathan Shepherd for his play against the Los Angeles Chargers has been successfully appealed and overturned:

The New Orleans Saints have been fined quite a few times this season, and one of the ones that many fans did not question was the $11,817 fine placed on Nathan Shepherd for unnecessary roughness after their matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Both Shepherd and Chargers’ center Bradley Bozeman received penalties in-game for unnecessary roughness, as Shepherd made a late tackle and roll on Justin Herbert which certainly was controversial at minimum. Bozeman came in and shoved Shepherd off of Herbert, which ultimately led to the offsetting penalties in game. Shepherd received a fine shortly thereafter, however, it has been appealed recently and ultimately ended with the fine being discarded.

Saints’ defensive end Cameron Jordan took to social media to defend Shepherd after the fine was taken back as well. Other Saints staff and players had previously defended Shepherd on the play when it was criticized by media and fans, including former head coach Dennis Allen.

“Here’s a guy who’s trying to wrap the quarterback up, he’s on the ground, he has no idea whether the quarterback has the ball or not,” Allen said. “He’s just trying to bring the quarterback down to the ground, so there was nothing malicious about this play.”

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Nathan Shepherd fined for controversial hit on Justin Herbert

The NFL has fined Saints defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd for his controversial hit on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in Week 8:

The New Orleans Saints continue to have players fined this season, as defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd was fined $11,817 for unnecessary roughness against Justin Herbert when he attempted to tackle him by the legs while the ball was already out of his hands. This tackle attempt was most definitely not a good look, and the fine is within reason considering the circumstances. In addition to this, Los Angeles Chargers center Bradley Bozeman, who jumped onto Shepherd in defense of Herbert, was not fined for this situation.

The Saints have had quite a few fines this season, including Alontae Taylor and Marshon Lattimore who received fines for unsportsmanlike conduct (violent gestures), Khristian Boyd and Trevor Penning for late hits (unnecessary roughness), and Derek Carr for unsportsmanlike conduct as well. Shepherd now adds to that tally as they continue to build up their total allocations, 50% of which will go to the Professional Athletes Foundation.

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Dennis Allen defends Nathan Shepherd after controversial play vs. Chargers

Dennis Allen doesn’t believe there was anything malicious about Nathan Shepherd’s hit on Chargers QB Justin Herbert:

New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd took a controversial hit on Justin Herbert, and Los Angeles Chargers offensive lineman Bradley Bozeman didn’t respond kindly. It’s difficult to blame Bozeman for his response. Any Saints offensive lineman would react the same way to that type of play to Derek Carr.

Dennis Allen and Khalen Saunders stepped in to defend the New Orleans Saints defensive tackle.

Allen doesn’t see any malice in the play and said, “Here’s a guy that’s trying to wrap the quarterback up. He’s on the ground, he has no idea if the quarterback has the ball or not.” Khalen Saunders went on social media after the game to echo the sentiment.

That being said, it was a very late hit, at least three seconds after the ball had been released. Herbert didn’t even seem to be trying to escape.

Allen and Saunders may have had Shepherd’s back, but this feels like a tough play to justify. Shepherd may not have known the ball was released, but the way he went for the tackle looked like he was fold Herbert’s leg.

It’s a tough place for the defender. You’re at the quarterback’s legs and haven’t gotten him down, but it just feels like there should have been a different way. The play is questionable at best.

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Bradley Bozeman sounds off on Nathan Shepherd’s dirty hit to Justin Herbert

Bradley Bozeman earned the respect of a lot of people for defending Justin Herbert.

Chargers center Bradley Bozeman got flagged for unnecessary roughness during Sunday’s 26-8 victory over the Saints for an incident in which he was just trying to protect his quarterback.

Justin Herbert got a low hit from Saints defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd, who held on to Herbert’s leg and turned him down awkwardly.

As Shepherd was pulling down on Herbert by his leg while on the ground, Bozeman leaped into him on the ground and piled on Shepherd.

“It was probably one of the dirtier plays I’ve ever seen,” Bozeman said about the incident, “especially with my own eyes. I think the ball’s gone two, three seconds, and he’s still gator-rolling. He’s on the ground; he’s still gator-rolling. You protect your quarterback. You protect your quarterback no matter what. I think any of our offensive linemen who were in that position would have done the exact, same thing. I had to get him off of him, and I did.”

Shepherd was also given an unnecessary roughness penalty, which offset and negated a 10-yard play. But Herbert responded with a 15-yard pass en route to a 15-play, 90-yard touchdown drive.

“I appreciated what he did,” Herbert said. “I tried to pull him off so we wouldn’t have any penalties called, but to have a guy like that defending you, there’s no better feeling.”

Khalen Saunders expected to miss several weeks with calf injury

The Saints may have to shuffle their cards on roster cut-down day, as Khalen Saunders is expected to miss several weeks with a calf injury:

New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders is expected to miss a couple of weeks due to a calf injury, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill. This news comes on roster cut-down day and leaves the Saints with some pretty intriguing questions to answer as they begin to trim down the roster to its official 53-man size.

The Saints have options, as they could place Saunders on injured reserve, leaving him out of the lineup for four games but opening an extra roster spot for the duration. Otherwise, they could keep him on the active roster if the injury is expected to have a shorter duration than that and find a way to replace him for two to three weeks until he is healthy.

As for his replacement, the presumably obvious answer would be Nathan Shepherd, who started all 17 games for the Saints with Saunders along the defensive line. The other possible option would be rookie sixth-round pick Khristian Boyd, who has been the subject of quite a bit of hype throughout the offseason process. He has exceptional athletic skills and physical traits that make him an intriguing prospect, and may lead to him getting at least some share of the snaps left behind by Saunders. Bryan Bresee had already replaced Saunders in the starting lineup next to Shepherd so expect a big season for the second-year draft pick.

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Saints shut out of ESPN’s top defensive tackle rankings

Bryan Bresee had a strong rookie year with the New Orleans Saints, but it wasn’t enough to make ESPN’s list of the best defensive tackles:

ESPN’s series polling dozens of anonymous NFL sources to rank the best players at every position continued this week with the defensive tackles, but there  wasn’t a single New Orleans Saints player on the list — not inside the top-10, nor even as an honorable mention.

The Saints overhauled their defensive tackles last year by signing Nathan Shepherd and Khalen Saunders while drafting Bryan Bresee, letting David Onyemata walk away in free agency in the process. But the group didn’t work out as well as hoped, with the Saints allowing the 11th-most rushing yards around the league.

Still, getting snubbed on this list is disappointing given Bresee’s strong rookie year. He made a big impact on passing downs by setting a new team record for sacks among first-year defensive tackles (4.5), and he almost broke the team record for passes batted down at the line of scrimmage (6), too. He also had a couple of sacks nullified by penalties. His 31 quarterback pressures were fourth-most on the team per Pro Football Focus charting.

So how can he improve in 2024 and make this list next year? Bresee must become a more impactful run defender. He was shoved around too easily in that phase last season and the coaching staff made an effort to limit his exposure when opponents were planning to run at him. Of the 15 Saints defenders who logged 400 or more total snaps, only Tanoh Kpassagnon played fewer run defense snaps (139) than Bresee (148). Improving his lower body strength to better anchor against advancing blockers will do a lot to help him stay on the field more often and make more plays.

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Countdown to Kickoff: Bryan Bresee is the Saints Player of Day 90

Countdown to Kickoff: Bryan Bresee is the New Orleans Saints Player of Day 90, but how can he improve in 2024 after a strong rookie season?

We’ve got 90 days to go until the New Orleans Saints open up their 2024 season with a Week 1 kickoff game against the Carolina Panthers, so we’re continuing our countdown with the No. 90 jersey’s current owner: defensive tackle Bryan Bresee. Last year’s first round draft pick enjoyed a strong rookie season, so let’s break it down:

  • Name (Age): Bryan Bresee (30)
  • Position: Defensive end
  • Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 305 pounds
  • Relative Athletic Score: 9.62
  • 2024 salary cap hit: $2,787,171
  • College: Clemson
  • Drafted: First round in 2023 (New Orleans Saints)
  • NFL experience: 2 seasons

Bresee was active in all 17 games last year, totaling 4.5 sacks and 9 quarterback hits with 7 tackles for loss and 6 passes defensed. He had 24 combined tackles. He was consistently pressuring quarterbacks and making plays in the backfield. So how can he level up in 2024?

The big priority for Bresee now is improving his run defense. He needs to do a better job anchoring against advancing blockers and plugging lanes to reroute ball carriers. He played too high at times as a rookie which led to him getting pushed off the line of scrimmage. The Saints limited his snaps accordingly, with Bresee playing 391 snaps on passing downs against 148 on running downs. He needs to prove to his coaches that they can trust him when the offense is looking to run the football. If he can do that, he’ll surpass veterans ahead of him on the depth chart like Nathan Shepherd (303 snaps in run defense) and Khalen Saunders (276).

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Countdown to Kickoff: Nathan Shepherd is the Saints Player of Day 93

Nathan Shepherd is the New Orleans Saints Player of Day 93 as we count down to kickoff. He was a hit in free agency last year:

We’re continuing to count down the days until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2024 season in September, and with 93 days left to go we’re highlighting the current owner of the No. 93 jersey: Nathan Shepherd. The Saints signed the veteran defensive tackle last offseason after he started his career with the New York Jets, and he enjoyed some success in his first year wearing black and gold. Let’s get to know him a little better:

  • Name (Age): Nathan Shepherd (30)
  • Position: Defensive tackle
  • Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 315 pounds
  • Relative Athletic Score: 8.97
  • 2024 salary cap hit: $2,820,000
  • College: Fort Hays State
  • Drafted: Third round in 2018 (New York Jets)
  • NFL experience: 7 seasons

Shepherd played a career-high 594 snaps last year, also setting new personal-bests in sacks (3.5), tackles (50), and quarterback pressures (23). He’s a good player, but the hope should be for Bryan Bresee to develop into the team’s best option at the position. Until that happens Shepherd will continue to get more looks on running downs and short-yardage situations.

He’s clearly a player the Saints value; they restructured Shepherd’s contract this offseason, and he earned another $500,000 after hitting some incentives written into it last year. Whether or not Bresee surpasses him on the depth chart he’s going to remain a big part of their plans for the defensive line. So far, he’s been a hit for New Orleans in free agency.

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Tracking Saints’ moves to get under the 2024 salary cap

We’re tracking New Orleans Saints’ moves to get under the 2024 salary cap. It’s a mad dash to the finish line ahead of free agency:

It’s time for one of the most interesting parts of the New Orleans Saints season: how they manage to get under the salary cap once again.

There was good news for the Saints recently as the NFL announced the 2024 salary cap with a big raise — the cap went up $30.6 million from last year to $255.4 million. That will give the Saints more room to maneuver around, given that they are used to making it work with a lot less.

A lot that will be done over the next few weeks will be restructuring existing contracts. They keep restructuring in mind when forming their contracts in the first place, just one tool that the front office uses to stay ahead of things. They will also likely cut some players that they consider to be a bad value.

Here is a running tracker of every move the team makes to get under the salary cap. Our numbers are approximate, give or take a couple million dollars, and there are so many moving parts this time of the year it’s near-impossible to nail things down to the nth degree. So check this space often for updates:

Saints work towards salary cap compliance by restructuring Nathan Shepherd

The New Orleans Saints are continuing to work towards salary cap compliance by restructuring their contract with Nathan Shepherd:

Here’s your next New Orleans Saints salary cap maneuver: ESPN’s Field Yates reports that the team restructured their contract with defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd to save “just north of $3 (million)” following similar moves with quarterback Derek Carr and center Erik McCoy. Another restructure with right guard Cesar Ruiz is also in the works, per ESPN.

There’s just one thing: the math doesn’t check out for this to yield more than $3 million in savings. Shepherd was due $4.1 million in base salary with a $1 million signing bonus payout in 2024 prior to this restructure, which made for a $5.1 million cap hit. Lowering his salary to the minimum ($1.125 million) and converting the difference into a new signing bonus ($2.975 million paid out over five years for accounting purposes) would yield $2.23 million in savings, dropping his cap hit from $5.1 million to just $2.72 million.

So maybe that’s a typo or mistake from Yates. $2.23 million could be credibly described as “just north of” $2 million. We’ll see if Yates shares a clarification or if there’s something else going on here. Either way, whether it’s $2 million or $3 million, every dollar counts for the Saints. Few teams spend more than they do.

Shepherd’s base salary for 2024 was already guaranteed when he signed with the Saints last year, so he was going to get this money regardless. It’s just being paid out differently to better work around the salary cap. After restructuring their deals with Shepherd, Carr, and McCoy with Ruiz’s expected restructure factoring in, the Saints should be over the cap by about $33.2 million. That’s already $50 million less than where they started in offsesason projections.

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