The New Orleans Saints have had a resurgent 2025 season after a rough start. Kellen Moore and the offense have turned things around, and the defense has also been strong in the second half of the 2025 season.
Just like how the Saints began turning things around after Week 8, so too has defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd. He's a veteran defensive tackle who, since Week 8, has been one of the better linemen for the Saints.
The 32-year-old lineman is playing for a lot in the final week of the season, as Zak Koeppel of NFL.com shared that Shepherd is just 0.5 sack away from cashing an incentive worth $250,000 this season.
Saints' Nathan Shepherd just 0.5 sack from $250,000 payday
"Shepherd's three sacks in 2025 have all come since Week 8," Keoppel writes. "But the Falcons have taken just 22 sacks this season, which is tied for the second fewest in the NFL."
Shepherd's chances of landing a 0.5 sack aren't terrible, especially since he doesn't need a full sack. Even a split sack would give him just enough on the year to reach his incentive.
The incentive for Shepherd this season is that if he reaches 3.5 sacks, he will land a $250,000 payday. Currently at three sacks, all of which have come since the Saints' Week 8 turnaround, he is so close to a strong payday.
Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons are by no means an easy opponent, but if the Saints' front can get home just once, and Shepherd is a part of that group, any sack credited to him would give him enough for the incentive mark.
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It's been a career-year for Shepherd so far, as he's only once reached three sacks in a season and hit 46 total tackles, which is a career-high for the eight-year NFL veteran.
Just one more sack, even if it's just a 0.5 sack, would give Shepherd a career-high in sacks and also land him a solid $250,000 payday.
While the Saints-Falcons matchup could have a huge impact on the playoffs, depending on whether the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win over the Carolina Panthers or not, Shepherd will have plenty to play for in Week 18, as he's so close to a quarter of a million dollar payout.
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