Report: Will Gholston Return Is Near

March 22nd, 2022

Defensive lineman Will Gholston

[UPDATE:] The man who wants to be a Buccaneer for life is closing in on his wish.

That’s the word from Field Yates of ESPN, via ProFootballTalk.com.

Joe will keep this simple. If the Bucs’ priority on defense is still stopping the run, then a Gholston return is essential. He’s a beast against the run and he’s grown as a pass rusher the past two seasons, leading the team in quarterback hits during the Super Bowl season and notching a career high 4 1/2 sacks in 2021.

After Lavonte David, Gholston is the second-longest tenured Bucs player, a true survivor of The Lost Decade. A raw fourth-round pick in 2013, Gholston has kept grinding and grinding and grinding through so many coaches and challenges, and he’s become a big-time local philanthropist in recent years.

Great, great news on the heels of Leonard Fournette’s new three-year contract.

[UPDATE:] Gholston’s agent announced his client will return to the Bucs, but offered no specifics.

33 Responses to “Report: Will Gholston Return Is Near”

  1. SOEbuc Says:

    Awesome!

  2. Buczilla Says:

    Hell yes!

  3. Buc4evr Says:

    Great, now sign Suh and JPP.

  4. Marine Buc Says:

    Good. One less hole to fill.

    *That’s what she said…

  5. DoooshLaRue Says:

    I’d like to keep him. He’s always been solid.

  6. Chris@Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa Says:

    Great News!

  7. BigPoppaBuc Says:

    Sign all our DL free agents. Draft DL first two rounds and we’ll be ready for another run.

  8. Joe in Michigan Says:

    Cool!

  9. CleanHouse Says:

    excellent news- we need him an Suh, Jpp too- never bet against JPP

  10. Rob In Land O Lakes Says:

    Everything is falling into place. Stopping the run and making your opponent one-dimensional is the name of the game. But with this offense, teams will likely have to throw to keep up. When that happens, Bowles needs to figure out how to generate a pass rush with 4 guys. This is a very good run blitz team but pass rush… they need to give Shaq some help.

  11. Defense Rules Says:

    Gholston first, then Suh, then (maybe) JPP. Draft a DT & a DE/OLB (plus a CB for good measure) in the Top-3 Rnds and we’ll have set a nice foundation for 2022 AND 2023 (and beyond).

    Easy to forget about the depth players, but Minter played a key role last season while White & LVD were out. Gio is a great backup RB, and BA is probably gonna bring Gabbert back as insurance. We still need a LS (Triner is a FA), and Adams played reasonably well for us last season I thought.

    Still can’t figure out how they’ll make all this work, but not my problem. Currently we sit with $2.5 mil in salary CAP, and still have to come up with the money to pay Fournette, Ryan & Perriman. Plus our draft class ($7.0 mil). Plus all the FAs we need to bring back. And it looks like we’ve only got 3 large contracts that we can restructure (Brady, LVD, D Smith). Mike Greenberg will earn magician status if he can pull this off.

  12. Daryl Green Says:

    🤙🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾❤️ In this order
    1.Tom Terrific is back.
    2. The God is Back (Godwin)
    3. Big 92 is back my favorite Buc.

    Now go get Suh, another Corner, and
    Pass rusher not name JPP.

  13. steele Says:

    You bring back the band if the band is great, but this band? It can be upgraded.

    Gholston is okay, but look at the pass rushers out there. Melvin Ingram, Jerry Hughes, Justin Houston, Akiem Hicks, J Clowney,Carlos Dunlap. Draft: Ebikete, Jermaine Johson, Logan Hall, Sam Williams, Myjai Sanders, etc.

    This defense needs IMPROVEMENT. Not necessarily just the same guys because we have sentimental attachment to their presence.

  14. Thadeus Says:

    Should have let Godwin go.
    Keep Suh
    Don’t need JPP
    Glad Lenny is staying
    Have Tom stay in Julian’s ear
    Don’t need Julio
    Make damn sure The Gronk comes back
    Get rid of BA

  15. Seattle Buc is back in TB Says:

    Hell of an off season so far. Gholston has been underrated his whole career. Lunchpail glue guy.

  16. unbelievable Says:

    “Don’t need JPP”

    Sure, as long as you find someone as good or better. Sounds easy enough, right?

  17. TheBradyBunch Says:

    We just signed CD and have two solid corners in Dean and SMB. No way in hell they should use anything less than a 4th rounder on a corner. While a d tackle would help fill a need if Suh leaves, my first choice would be that guard out of Boston College. That guy could be a stud for 10 years and could contribute right away and eventually as good or better than Marpet. Defensive linemen usually take time to develop and we are in win now mode.

  18. Breadwinnerbob Says:

    Its a good thing this Thadeus guy not in charge at one buc ..clueless

  19. firethecannons Says:

    Gholston is ascending and getting better every year! He is playing his best for Todd Bowles.

  20. Jmarkbuc Says:

    Unbelievable

    Love JPP but we’ve got to get younger somewhere. That and his health. Tough to watch a thoroughbred try and run on three legs.

  21. Esteban85 Says:

    Thadeus say whaaa?!! Should’ve let Godwin go? Thank Godwin you’re not the GM.

  22. TBChucky Says:

    Welcome back Will!

  23. geno711 Says:

    Thadeus Says:
    March 22nd, 2022 at 9:32 pm
    These two really make no sense to me.

    1. Should have let Godwin go.
    ….
    2. Get rid of BA

  24. DBS Says:

    Glad he is back and they are working on defense now. Glad the real experts don’t listen to the jbf experts. We are broke, busted and noway can the team afford to resign free agents or do anything.

  25. W Says:

    Love it Welcome back 💥💥💥💥 We need to sign a veteran corner badly

  26. JimmyJack Says:

    Dont know about Suh and JPP. I would like to see us use our #1 Draft choice to replace one of them. Lets face it. This D lost the fire they had in 2020. Get us a young hungry kid to add to the mix.

  27. DoooshLaRue Says:

    Brady Bunch,

    I’d love to have that guy if available in the 1st round but if not we should draft best DL available.
    We have to build the trenches first, then TE/CB

    ……and make Trask the backup QB

    Win now but build it for later.

  28. David Says:

    Please ignore Thaddeus, he’s obviously under the age of 12, ignorant to football, completely clueless when it comes to great coaching, and I highly doubt he’s even a Buccaneer fan.

    It’s the only way to explain someone who would rather go after a retired WR who is not even 50% of what Godwin is and thinks BA is expendable.

    The BA thing really cracks me up since I have yet to see an NFL coach at any level and a player on either side of the ball in the last couple decades who say anything negative about BA. They all love him, want to play for him, & want to coach with him but the 12-year-old on the couch at home knows better.
    LOL.

    Thank your GOD for Licht.

  29. David Says:

    That sidetracked with the ignorance… As far as Gholston, FANTASTIC!!
    He’s still very effective- Great against the run & decent at getting pressure up the gut

  30. SOEbuc Says:

    TheBradyBunch

    Did you really say the Bucs have two solid CB in Dean and SMB??? OG Zion Johnson (Boston College) will not likely be on the board at 27. Every FA sign we make has me saying trade back to the second for a second and fourth round pick. I really wanted to get another good vet to play CB this offseason. Dean and SMB bad play between them does nothing but bring the secondary down even more that it already is. CB second pick in the second round.

  31. TheBradyBunch Says:

    CD is a top flight corner, SMB playing nickel is def decent enough and gets lots of picks. Dean isn’t great but that is why he is defending #2 wrs. This is hardly an area of need when compared with the offensive and defensive lines. About half the mocks I’ve read have Zion available when the Bucs select in the first round.

  32. SOEbuc Says:

    Dean isn’t great but that is why he is defending #2 WR??? Godwin is a #2 WR. There are so many good WR duo in the NFL, especially with contenders.

  33. Esteban85 Says:

    Dean has taken some steps forward in his career. I like him at #2cb, he’s just getting banged up on a regular basis. We could use depth at CB depth at OL but the priority has got to be pass rush DL. We need Suh for one more year but we must draft a lineman on D. Zion will go to bellicheat after they let us steal mason. So glad to have a great human being Will Gholston back in TB. He is a class act.