Buccaneers Don’t Plan To Move Vita Vea Despite Interest

Fowler says the Buccaneers have had several callers for the veteran lineman after he requested a trade without a new contract earlier this week.

Fowler also brings up that Tampa Bay doesn’t typically extend players until the final year of their deals. Vea is entering the last season of his four-year, $71 million extension but informed the team he felt his contract has been outdated for a long time, per Fowler.

According to Fowler, this led to contract talks going nowhere, and while he says it feels the Buccaneers really tried to extend QB Baker Mayfield, the same effort was doesn’t seem like it was there for Vea.

The veteran defensive tackle averaged $17.75 million per year on his current deal, which makes him the league’s No. 19 overall highest-paid interior lineman.

Vea, 31, is a former first-round pick of the Buccaneers back in 2018. The Buccaneers picked up Vea’s fifth-year option which will cost them $7.638 million fully guaranteed for the 2022 season.

He later signed a four-year, $71 million extension with Tampa Bay. The team cleared approximately $9 million by converting a large portion of Vea’s $12.5 million base salary for 2023 into a bonus.

He’s set to earn a base salary of 17,000,000 in 2026. 

In 2025, Vea appeared in all 17 games for the Buccaneers and recorded 34 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two pass defenses, and one fumble recovery. 

We’ll provide more information on Vea as the news becomes available.