def METHOD_NAME(v, shifts=None):
    r"""
    Returns the greatest degree among the entries of the polynomial vector `v`.
    INPUT:
    - ``v`` -- a vector of polynomials.
    - ``shifts`` -- (default: ``None``) a list of integer shifts to consider
      ``v`` under, i.e. compute `\max(\deg v_i + s_i)`, where `s_1,\ldots, s_n`
      is the list of shifts.
      If ``None``, all shifts are considered as ``0``.
    EXAMPLES::
        sage: from sage.coding.guruswami_sudan.utils import _degree_of_vector
        sage: F.<x> = GF(7)[]
        sage: v = vector(F, [0, 1, x, x^2])
        sage: _degree_of_vector(v)
        2
        sage: _degree_of_vector(v, shifts=[10, 1, 0, -3])
        1
    """
    if not shifts:
        return max(vi.degree() for vi in v)
    else:
        if v.is_zero():
            return -1
        return max(degi + si for (degi, si) in zip([vi.degree() for vi in v ], shifts)
                   if degi > -1)