As negotiating tactics go, asking for a trade day the day before training camp opens is the NFL’s equivalent of reaching for the nuclear codes before deciding to enter them. But that’s exactly what Tampa Bay Buccaneers nose tackle Vita Vea has done.
The two-time Pro Bowler has become so frustrated with contract discussions this offseason that he has decided he does not see a future with the team and has asked to be traded, a league source confirmed to Pakinomist Digital.
This does not mean that a trade will take place. Vea is under contract through the 2026 season and is scheduled to make up to $18 million if he can play all 17 games in the final year of his current contract.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) jumps away from Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea (50) during the first half of an NFL football game Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
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The Bucs won’t just hold a fire sale to avoid the distraction of trade talk, according to a source.
Vea wants more money, pointing out that he is currently the 19th highest paid interior defensive lineman in the league. And he believes he is much better than the 19th best defensive lineman in the league.
Vea is, by all accounts, the structural centerpiece of the Tampa Bay defense. He is arguably the team’s best run defender, and as all NFL defensive coordinators often note, if a defense can’t stop the run, it can’t do much else.
Vea provides a rare combination of size, power and movement to control the middle of the formation from his nose tackle spot. At 6-foot-4 and 347 pounds, Vea has anchored against double teams for much of his recent years.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea sacks Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) during the first half of an NFL wild-card football game, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Despite this attention, he is able to block interior rushing lanes and prevent offensive linemen from climbing cleanly to the second level of Tampa Bay’s defense. Since becoming a full-time starter in 2019, he has helped the Buccaneers establish one of the NFL’s most consistently productive run defenses.
From 2019 through most of the 2024 season, Tampa Bay ranked first in the NFL in rushing yards per game at 94.1, first in yards per carry at 4.0 and finished in the top five against the run in five of six seasons, including No. 1 finishes in 2019 and 2020.
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Vea played just five games in 2020 due to a broken ankle, but he’s proven to be durable ever since. He has started 78 games in the past five seasons.
Vea’s individual production shows he’s more than a traditional space-eating nose tackle, but he set a career high with seven sacks in 2024, then added 4.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss and 13 quarterback hits in 2025.
His 2024 pass-rush production made Tampa Bay one of only three teams that season with two defensive tackles recording at least seven sacks, as Vea and Calijah Kancey both reached that mark.
TAMPA, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 24: Vita Vea #50 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates after beating the Chicago Bears 38-3 in the game at Raymond James Stadium on October 24, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Vea was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 2021 and 2024 seasons, earned a spot on the NFL Players Association’s Top 100 list entering 2025 and was a key member of Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl LV championship team.
This trade request spells trouble for the Bucs.
It’s possible that Vea, who reported but didn’t participate in the team’s mandatory minicamp and missed the rest of the offseason program, might decide to simply hold out for the start of training camp — that is, he’ll show up but not practice.
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No coach likes that. No team wants that.
The Buccaneers are already managing high-stakes contract negotiations with quarterback Baker Mayfield as their top contract issue. So trading a very big star defenseman who has publicly let it be known he wants out isn’t great for the team.
