Bills Signing Olympic Wrestler Gable Steveson As Defensive Lineman

According to Adam Schefter, the Bills are signing Olympic gold-medal wrestler and former NCAA champion Gable Steveson to a contract on Friday. 

Schefter notes that Stevenson is expected to play as a defensive lineman but has never played organized football in his athletic career. He is signing the standard rookie three-year deal. 

Stevenson confirmed the news. 

“I have been fortunate to compete at the highest level of competition in my sport but am looking forward to the challenge of seeing how my wrestling skills may translate to football,” Steveson said, via Schefter. “I am grateful to Coach (Sean) McDermott, (general manager) Brandon Beane and the Buffalo Bills organization for giving me this opportunity.”

Steveson, 24, is an American freestyle wrestler and folkstyle wrestler, graduating from the University of Minnesota as the 2021 NCAA Champion at 285 pounds. He also won the Big Ten championship for his weight class three straight years from 2020-2022. Steveson was twice named the Dan Hodge Trophy winner, which is considered the Heisman Trophy of college wrestling.

He took Gold at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in the 125kg weight class and also won the 2021 Pan American Championship. From there, he signed a contract with the WWE, but only seldomly appeared over the next few years.