DE William Gholston gets 5-year deal with Tampa Bay Buccaneers

March 7 (UPI) -- Defensive end William Gholston avoided free agency and agreed to re-sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a five-year contract, the team announced Monday.

Sources told ESPN the sides agreed to a $27.5 million deal that could be worth up to $36.5 million based on sack incentives and other escalators. The contract through the 2021 season includes $13.5 million guaranteed.

Gholston could have become a free agent at the start of the new league year on Thursday.

The 25-year-old Gholston, a fourth-round pick by the Bucs in 2013, recorded 49 tackles, three sacks, nine tackles for loss and a forced fumble in 14 games in 2016. He missed the final two games with a dislocated elbow that did not require surgery.

In four seasons and 57 games with the Buccaneers, the 6-foot-6, 281-pound Gholston has 187 tackles, 10 sacks, eight passes defensed, 26 quarterback pressures, 29 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Meanwhile, Bucs backup quarterback Mike Glennon plans to test free agency that could land him a lucrative contract worth up to $15 million a year, Yahoo Sports reported.

Tampa Bay offered the 27-year-old Glennon a contract that would make him the highest-paid backup quarterback in the NFL, a source confirmed to ESPN's Adam Caplan.

The Bucs' offer to Glennon would eclipse the deal that the Philadelphia Eagles gave quarterback Chase Daniel ($7 million per season), according to ESPN.

Glennon has seen action in 21 career games with 18 starts for the Buccaneers, although he hasn't started a game in the past two seasons since Tampa Bay drafted Jameis Winston with first overall pick in 2015.

Glennon's 4,100 career passing yards and 18 career starts are much more compared to Brock Osweiler before the former Denver Broncos quarterback landed a four-year, $72-million contract last year with the Houston Texans.