The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended trade speculation around defensive tackle Vita Vea when they extended him before the regular season. However, after the Bucs 1-5 start to the 2026 season, the talks appear to be picking back up.
Vea could get traded if the price is right, and according to Scott Reynolds of Pewter Report, the price is likely less than it was prior to the team extending him.
Reynolds notes that the biggest hurdle will be enough teams finding the cap space in the middle of the season to create a bidding war.
“I think if there was a team that had the salary cap room, because remember Vita is a very highly paid guy right now, that you’re going to have to find a trade partner that has that cap space to make it work, not just this year but next year,” said Reynolds on the potential diminished value of Vea.
Reynolds noted that as things stand, the Bucs would have to accept a third-round pick if they wanted to move on from their former Pro Bowl lineman.
“Like a third-round pick is probably what you could fetch for Vea unless there was a bidding war,” said Reynolds. “But I think at age 31, Vea will be 32. It will probably be a third-round pick for Vea.”
Vea signed a one-year $30M extension for the 2027 season. So, the team acquiring Vea would take on a prorated portion of his $10M cap this year and then $30M for next year.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Could Get Third-Round Pick for Vita Vea
Earlier in the summer, Benjamin Solak from ESPN noted that he talked to an executive around the league that thought that a team would have to trade a second-round pick and then add something to that to get Vea.
“I texted an executive the second the news broke and said, ‘If you were building a trade package, what would you do?’” asked Solak. “He said I don’t know a second and a fifth, but it’s going to be hard because that (Dexter) Lawrence package really sets the floor for Vea trade value.”
So, if the Bucs did trade Vea at the deadline, they would be accepting that he lost value after the team extended him.
Vea Has Not Helped the Bucs in 2026
Whether it is his age or the holdout making him rusty to start the year, Vea has not been able to improve his value. He does not have any sacks so far this year and has five run stops.
His PFF grade is 55.8. PFF grades are not everything, but his lowest grade prior to this season was 65.6. The year prior to this, his grade was 71.8. When there is that big of an outlier, it is clear that this is the worst year of his career on tape.
So, having him signed beyond this year helps, but the salary is high. His age, and production are not helping his trade value, either. Will the Bucs settle for a third when they could have gotten a second in the summer?
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