Buccaneers re-sign William Gholston on five-year deal

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have re-signed William Gholston on a five-year, $37 million deal with $13.5 million guaranteed, Adam Caplan of ESPN reports. The defensive end was set to become a free agent, but the Bucs had made it a priority to keep their top run-defender.

Gholston was a fourth-round pick out of Michigan State four years ago, and has slowly turned into one of the Bucs’ core defenders. While never a great pass-rusher, he’s a huge and versatile defensive end who is unstoppable against the run, and can play some defensive tackle as well, especially on passing downs.

Gholston has 10.5 sacks in four years and started 14 games last season. With Robert Ayers as another versatile defensive end and Noah Spence as a pass-rush specialist and possible starter as well, the Bucs have a pretty decently-stocked defensive end group. Especially if Jacquies Smith returns from his knee injury ready to play this year.