The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are already dealing with major injury issues on offense with a pair of NFL All-Pro players out in left offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs and wide receiver Chris Godwin.
Headed into the season opener on the road against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, September 7, their defense might also have its own problems.
“One of the Buccaneers’ key defenders has an injury concern entering Week 1,” Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons wrote on September 3. “Defensive tackle Vita Vea did not practice on Wednesday with a foot injury, according to the team’s practice report.”
Not having Vea against the Falcons would be a huge blow to Tampa Bay’s defense. He’s coming off arguably the best season of his career in 2024, when he had career highs in sacks (7.0), TFL (15) and QB hits (13) to go with 42 tackles.
Vea was ranked No. 76 on the NFL’s preseason list of its Top 100 players.
Vea wasn’t the only member of the defensive front to miss practice on Wednesday — free agent edge rusher Haason Reddick also was gone due to personal reasons.
“Vita Vea did not practice today due to a foot injury,” ESPN’s Jenna Laine wrote on her official X account on September 3. “Benjamin Morrison and Cade Otton were both limited today. Haason Reddick did not practice today but I did see him in the locker room after.
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The kind of respect Vea carries around the NFL was evident when he made the leap from honorable mention in 2024 to No. 9 on ESPN’s annual preseason position rankings for interior defensive linemen.
Vea has 2 seasons remaining on the 4-year, $71 million contract extension he signed with the Buccaneers in January 2022 and was one of 3 players on the list to have won both a Super Bowl and make a Pro Bowl Kansas City’s Chris Jones (No. 2) and Philadelphia’s Jalen Carter (No. 3).
“Vea slimmed down last offseason, and the result was a career-high 7.0 sacks along with his usual run-stopping ways,” ESPN”s Jeremy Fowler wrote on July 8. “But the stats don’t tell the story with Vea, whose raw strength is undeniable.”
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Headed into 2025, Vea has 30.5 career sacks and is just 2.5 sacks away from entering the Top 10 career sacks leaders for the Buccaneers.
Lee Roy Selmon, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1976 NFL draft, is Tampa Bay’s career leader with 78.5 sacks from 1976 to 1984.
“The Buccaneers’ defense centers around imposing nose tackle Vita Vea,” Buccaneers.com’s Brianna Dix wrote on March 26. “The two-time Pro Bowl veteran wreaks havoc in the trenches, whether clogging holes or penetrating the backfield. He amassed 39 tackles (nine for loss), 7.0 sacks, 12 quarterback hits and one pass defensed in 15 games played in 2024.”
Part of Vea’s success in 2024 seemed to come via a new approach to fitness.
Listed at 6-foot-4 and approximately 350 pounds since he was drafted No. 12 overall in the 2018 NFL draft, Vea dropped around 20 pounds last offseason.
“(Vea) is having a great offseason,” Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles told Bucs Nation in April 2024. “We look for him to come back stronger and faster and quicker … We’ve talked about it for a long time. He’s finally taking it to heart … He’s really making the strides and the changes necessary.”
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