Saints star Nathan Shepherd facing major NFL punishment with decision soon after ‘dirtiest play ever’ on Justin Herbert

NEW Orleans Saints star Nathan Shepherd is facing major disciplinary action from the NFL over his tackle on Justin Herbert.

The defensive tackle was part of the 2-6 NFC South team who were hammered 26-8 by the Los Angeles Chargers.

The humiliating loss came in Week 8 of the 2024-25 NFL season, the sixth defeat in a row for the dreadful Saints.

But it was an incident involving Shepherd and Herbert that was the talking point of the game.

The DT rushed the quarterback and wrapped his arms around his rivals’ legs.

He started to twist, but Herbert had already dumped the ball off to running back J.K. Dobbins seconds before.

The QB fell to the ground, and looked to be in pain from the tackle.

Shepherd’s action was extremely dangerous, and could have caused an injury to the Chargers stars’ knees or legs.

And, seeing the play unfold, Chargers center Bradley Bozeman came flying over to defend Herbert.

He smashed into Shepherd to get him off his QB, and show the DT he was not happy.

Both of the players were flagged for offsetting unnecessary roughness penalties by the officials.

It is now understood the NFL are now investigating the incident.

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Shepherd is facing a huge fine and possible multi-game suspension.

Fans and analysts have called for the league to make an example of him to protect players’ health.

“It was probably one of the dirtier plays I’ve ever seen,” Bozeman said on Sunday.

“You protect your quarterback no matter what.

1. Andy Reid – Chiefs – $20 million

2. Sean Payton – Broncos – $18 million

=3. Mike Tomlin – Steelers – $16 million

=3. Jim Harbaugh – Chargers – $16 million

5. Sean McVay – Rams – $15 million

6. Kyle Shanahan – 49ers – $14 million

7. John Harbaugh – Ravens – $12 million

=8. Dan Campbell – Lions – $11 million

=8. Sean McDermott – Bills – $11 million

10. Mike MacDonald – Seahawks – $10 million

“I think any of our offensive linemen that was in my position would’ve done the same thing.”

Fans also accused Shepherd of trying to intentionally injure Herbert during the game.

One said: “That is a disgrace. Ban him for the season!”

Another commented: “That was done on purpose!”

A third replied: “That needs to be investigated.”

Saints head coach Dennis Allen denied Shepherd meant to cause Herbert any harm.

“I think it’s not accurate. Here’s a guy that’s trying to wrap the quarterback up,” said Allen.

“He’s on the ground, he has no idea whether the quarterback has the ball or not.

“He’s just trying to bring the quarterback down to the ground.

“There was nothing malicious about that play. It’s a guy that’s trying to make the play.

“I went back and looked at that play again after seeing the comments and I don’t agree with that.”