Vita Vea trade rumors are starting to come back to life as the Buccaneers continue to march toward a top-5 draft pick
There was a lot of talk about Vita Vea and potential trade options during the offseason, but those quieted down after he signed his extension. Well, said talk has popped up again after the Buccaneers’ 1-5 start.
As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to lose games, questions surrounding the futures of the coaching staff, front office, and players will continue to grow and become more and more prevalant.
Understandably so, Vita Vea has found himself on a list of trade candidates and rumors once again. A lot of people were speculating on his future with the Buccaneers while he held-in during training camp, but that was squashed after he signed an extension toward the end of the preseason.
But that’s flipped on its head after the Buccaneers’ 1-5 start. ESPN insider Dan Graziano believes Vita Vea isn’t being talked about enough when it comes to trade candidates ahead of the Nov. 10 deadline and recently outlined his reasoning in he and Jeremy Fowler’s latest “Buzz Files”.
“The Buccaneers are 1-5. Vea is 31 years old, and he and the team begrudgingly came to a compromise agreement on his contract during training camp,” Graziano wrote. “The Bucs didn’t act as if he was part of their long-term future, and if teams come looking for a big, run-stuffing defensive tackle, Tampa would be silly not to listen. He is on a minimum salary this year and is guaranteed $23 million for 2027, which would rank about 15th in terms of cap numbers for defensive tackles in the league.
“If you need interior D-line help right now and don’t mind paying Vea $23 million next season at age 32, why not call to see what it would take to get him out of Tampa?”
Could –and would– the Buccaneers actually entertain a Vita Vea trade?
For starters, yes. The Buccaneers could trade Vea if they wanted to. The Buccaneers would free up around $1 million in cap room in 2026 and then around $11 million in cap room in 2027 despite accruing more than $19 million in dead money.
So, while it wouldn’t be ideal from a financial standpoint, it’s feasible to trade Vea. The key would be how much/what the Buccaneers get in return and that’s where things fall apart in my opinion.
Vita Vea isn’t playing well enough to be a viable trade candidate
And that’s because Vea isn’t playing well through six weeks into the season. He has been nowhere near the dominant force the Buccaneers have become accustomed to over the years and the numbers back it up.
Vea has a measly 4.7% pressure rate, along with zero sacks so far on the season. He’s only eclipsed two pressures in one game this year and already has two games with zero pressures. Compare that to 2025 where he had eight games with at least three pressures or more and it’s easy to understand the falloff that we’ve seen in 2026.
He hasn’t been that great in run defense, either. He’s one of the Buccaneers’ worst-graded run defenders, per Pro Football Focus, and is tied for ninth with just five run stops on the season.
Put it into context like this: Benjamin Morrison, who is a cornerback and has played 52 less run defense snaps than Vea, has as many stops as the nose tackle.
Therefore, I don’t envision a world where a team calls up Jason Licht and offers anything more than a fifth-rounder (or likely less) for Vea, which is definitely a no-go.
Are the Buccaneers heading toward a rebuild? It looks that way. Do they need draft picks to help speed up that process? That always helps.
But a fifth-rounder for a player like Vea, who is struggling but still has a high ceiling if he can get back on track, is nowhere near worth the price of admission. It’s highly unlikely a fifth-round rookie will swoop in and immediately help turn things around and the cap math that comes with a Vita Vea trade only adds more reason to keep him in Tampa Bay.
