Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea has officially had enough. His agent Collin Roberts told ESPN on Monday that the two-time Pro Bowler has requested a trade after extension talks with the team broke down.
Vea, 31, is entering the final year of his 4-year, $71 million deal. He is set to make $17 million this season with none of it guaranteed. He wants a raise. The Bucs, so far, are not moving.
The market has moved without him. Titans DT Jeffery Simmons resets the top of the position at $35.1 million per year. That is roughly double what Vea is scheduled to make. When you are one of the ten best interior defensive linemen in the league and there is that big a gap between your number and the top of the market, this is what happens.
Vea already tried to get the team’s attention earlier this offseason. He was a hold-in at mandatory minicamp last month because of the contract situation. At the time, he said talks were not “anywhere close” and warned he would not engage in negotiations once training camp started. Camp started. Talks did not move. Now here we are.
According to reports, Vea would prefer a trade to a California team or the Las Vegas Raiders. His agent said he has not asked for a specific destination in formal talks with the team. Both can be true. Players hint about where they want to go without officially demanding a spot on the map.
The Bucs are in an awkward spot. Vea is a foundational piece of their defensive front. He commands double teams, holds the point of attack against the run, and creates opportunities for the edge rushers around him. Losing him would immediately hurt a defense that has already had to reshuffle in recent years.
On the other hand, they know exactly what any trade partner will pay Vea to make this go away, and they know they cannot match it without going into cap gymnastics. If they hold firm and let him play out the year, they risk losing him for nothing. If they cave and pay him top-of-market money, they blow up their internal salary structure with other extensions coming.
Head coach Todd Bowles has taken a measured tone in public. He said Vea tweaked his back during a conditioning test, and that the team has not had any actual internal conversations about moving him. That is the coach-speak version of “we hope this goes away.”
The trade market for a 31-year-old, high-priced defensive tackle is not enormous. A team like the 49ers, Raiders, or Rams might dip their toes in the water, but a first-round pick offer is unlikely. Tampa’s leverage is real, even if their public position is uncomfortable.
Expect this one to drag. Vea is the biggest domino nobody wants to move.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
