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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – No. 92 is staying in Tampa Bay for an 11th season.
On Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced they’ve reached a deal with prominent and veteran defensive lineman Will Gholston, making him the second-longest tenured Buccaneers player behind teammate Lavonte David.
Since being selected by the Bucs in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft, Gholston has been a dominant force on defense, playing in 153 regular season games with 87 starts. His 153 games played with the Bucs ranks ninth in franchise history.
Throughout his career, Gholston has recorded 401 tackles, with 58 of them being for loss, 77 quarterback hits, 19.5 sacks, 12 passes defensed, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and four blocked kicks.
Over the past three seasons, he’s appeared in all seven playoff games for Tampa, including a Super Bowl LV Championship. In his playoff career, Gholston has tallied four quarterback hits and six tackles, including one for loss.
With Gholston up front, the Buccaneers became the first defense since the Minnesota Vikings (2006-08) to lead the NFL in rushing yards allowed in back-to-back seasons when they did so from 2019-20. Under Todd Bowles’ defensive scheme, Tampa Bay has allowed 92.3 rushing yards per game and 3.95 yards per rush dating back to 2019 – both marks led the NFL over the last four seasons.
Aside from Gholston being a leader on the field, he’s also been one off the field by supporting charitable causes in Tampa Bay. In 2022, the defensive lineman was the Bucs’ nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award and was also named a finalist for the 2022 NFLPA Alan Page Community Award.
Additionally, the Detroit native helped spearhead the Buccaneers Mobile Food Pantry program providing food to hundreds of families in East Tampa and helped lead distribution events in his hometown.
Last year, Gholston donated $225,000 to fund research at Moffitt Cancer Center’s George Edgecomb Society, which seeks to eliminate cancer health disparities among communities of color.
Gholston played college football at Michigan State before being selected as the No. 126 overall pick.
