William Gholston, Buccaneers Agree on 5-Year Contract

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers kept William Gholston from the free-agent market Monday, agreeing to a five-year contract with their rising defensive end.

The team announced the contract, which is technically an extension because it was agreed upon before the new league year begins. Tampa will pay out a maximum of $37 million and $13.5 million in guarantees, per Adam Caplan of ESPN.

Gholston, 25, recorded 49 tackles and three sacks in 2016. He missed two games due to a dislocated elbow but started every one of his appearances for the first time in his career. The former fourth-round pick has made 36 career starts in four seasons.

Gerald McCoy was the only Bucs defensive lineman who played more snaps last season than Gholston, per Football Outsiders.

While most consider this the best year of Gholston's career, some of the advanced metrics disagree. Pro Football Focus ranked Gholston just 90th among edge defenders last season. His pass rush grade was the fourth-lowest among players who received enough snaps to qualify.

Gholston has made just 10 sacks in his four NFL seasons, topping out at three each of the last two years. Tampa Bay did not have any players with more than seven sacks but did finish ninth in the league with 38 total sacks. McCoy, Robert Ayers, Noah Spence and Levonte David each had five or more takedowns. 

McCoy and Gholston celebrated the announcement with a Twitter exchange:

Signing Gholston in his prime seems like a fine move, but the contract structure here will be key. The $13.5 million in guarantees will likely be pushed toward the front of the contract, which will allow the Bucs to move on before his base salaries get out of control.

If Gholston posts similar production to 2016, this will look like an overpay. But his incremental improvement over his NFL career makes it probable that the upward trajectory continues as he heads into his true prime.