The Buffalo Bills need to land Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea via trade. Plain and simple.

They were talking about it on a recent episode of ESPN’s Get Up, and I 100% agree that this is a move Buffalo should make. It would be great for their defense, and the timing could not be better.

Especially when considering Vea is “highly upset” with the Buccaneers, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Buffalo’s run defense needs a fix

Look, the Bills’ pass defense was elite last season. First in the league in passing yards per game allowed, seventh overall in total yards per game allowed defensively, 12th in points per game. Those numbers are fantastic. But 28th in rush yards per game allowed? That run defense was atrocious, and there’s no way around it.

Make no mistake about it, Vita Vea is one of the best run stoppers in the league. At 6-foot-4, somewhere in that 340- to 350-pound range, he has been a machine against the run game throughout his NFL career in Tampa Bay. He could add a tremendous amount to the Bills’ front and interior right now.

Imagine putting him beside a guy like Ed Oliver. You have Deone Walker rotating in, some other guys as well in the back end, but the two-headed monster that could be put out there with Vea and Oliver would be ferocious. Obviously you have Bradley Chubb on the edge, drafted TJ Parker, and Greg Rousseau is out there. That defensive front alone would be scary.

A move like this could fix Buffalo’s run defense this year. And if that run defense gets fixed, think about what that means. We already saw that teams couldn’t pass on them in 2025. Now in 2026, they probably won’t be able to run on them either. That’s a Super Bowl-caliber defense.

Buffalo has the leverage to get this done

The most important thing here is that if the Bills want to make a move for Vea, they have leverage. Vea does not want to play in Tampa Bay after the team denied him a multi-year deal. He’s already requested a trade, so the Buccaneers can’t necessarily get the compensation they would want for a player of his caliber. Tampa Bay has lost some leverage because if they keep Vea on the roster, there’s no telling how long his hold-in lasts, nor how he’ll play after missing valuable offseason time.

He’s already “tweaked” something at camp, and oftentimes we know that can just be code for a player who doesn’t want to suit up for a team, even in practice.

Buffalo has a lot of leverage to make this move right now if they want to take that step into becoming a true championship-caliber defense. I think Vea is the perfect player to help solve that problem they have up front in stopping the run. The Bills’ pass defense already proved it was among the best in the league. Add Vita Vea to that front, and good luck trying to move the ball against Buffalo in any phase of the game.