The Bucs list defensive tackle Vita Vea at 6-foot-4, 347 pounds.
But that’s what Vea weighed seven years ago at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2018 when Tampa Bay made the 2017 PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Year the team’s first-round pick.
Since then, Vea has actually weighed 10-20 pounds heavier, depending on the season and the time of year. Now at age 29 with seven seasons under his belt in in Tampa Bay, the Bucs worry about his weight and how carrying so many excess pounds will negatively affect his body as he ages.
Since breaking his ankle during the 2020 and returning to help the team win Super Bowl LV, Vea has suffered several lower body injuries, including a knee sprain and a foot bruise in 2021, a calf strain and foot injury in 2022, and foot, toe and groin injuries in 2023, in addition to a pectoral injury.
Over the years, members of the organization have implored Vea to lose some weight to not only help avoid in-season injuries and become even more effective, but also to prolong his NFL career. It turns out Vea might have listened this offeason.
On Tuesday, Buccaneers defensive line coach and co-defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers indicated that Vea might have trimmed down this offseason – ahead of schedule.
“Okay, I’m not going to let the cat out of the bag, but wait until you see him when he comes back,” Rodgers said. “He looks a lot different. I’ll just let you see him.”
It is not uncommon for the team to see Vea report to OTAs overweight and use the offseason program to trim down. Sometimes, Vea has needed to lose some additional weight in training camp.
But the native of Tonga could be much further along this spring.
“Yeah, I’ve definitely seen a change,” Bucs defensive tackle Logan Hall said of how Vea looks this offseason. “I’m not sure on the number (how much weight he’s lost), but he’s moving great.”
Bucs Want Vita Vea To Become A “Dominant Guy”
After playing in 16 games during the 2021 season, Vita Vea missed three games in 2022 and a missed a pair of games last year due to injury. And when he wasn’t inactive, Vea wasn’t as effective for a few games due to being banged up physically.
Vea missed the Atlanta game in Week 14 due to a toe injury. In the week prior against Carolina in Week 13 and the week he returned versus Green Bay in Week 14, Vea totaled just three tackles in those games and didn’t notch a single quarterback pressure.
It’s no surprise that he recorded two of his lowest PFF grades of the season against the Panthers (55.8) and the Packers (61.2) while dealing with that toe injury.
“Vita has to play better,” Bucs defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers said. “When you are talking about that and just looking at plays he’s leaving out there, Vita is a really strong man when he uses his hands and proper technique he’s hard to stop.
“That’s the thing. He plays hard and does everything we ask of him. Just when you go back and look at some plays [you say], ‘You should have made that play. You know that guy should not be blocking you.’ That’s kind of where we need him to take the next step because he does everything, everything else we ask him for.”
Vea is among the highest-paid defensive tackles in the league, making an annual average salary of $17.75 million. He had a career-high 43 stops in 2023, including a personal-best eight tackles for loss.
But Vea only had nine QBs hits, which was his lowest total since notching three in just five games during the 2020 season. He posted 13 during the 2022 season.
Vea’s sack total also dropped from a team-high 6.5 sacks in 2022 to 5.5 sacks last year.
The Bucs hope a lighter, more svelte Vea can stay healthier and increase his productivity in 2024.
“Now it’s just kind of being the dominant guy – not the good guy,” Rodgers said.
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