{"id":376103,"date":"2026-08-20T00:52:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T00:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/376103\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T00:52:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T00:52:33","slug":"nfl-rumors-reveal-shift-in-vita-vea-tampa-bay-buccaneers-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/376103\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Rumors Reveal ‘Shift’ in Vita Vea-Tampa Bay Buccaneers Relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> have a couple of problems on their hands. Most notably, Baker Mayfield<\/a> is headed into the final year of his contract. Also notable, is the fact that Vita Vea is also in a contract year.<\/p>\n

Though, unlike Mayfield, Vea has demanded a trade from the Bucs. Also unlike Mayfield, Vea\u2019s agent hasn\u2019t shut down contract negotiations with the Bucs\u2019 front office, so it\u2019s possible a deal could still be made before the season starts. <\/p>\n

Related: 1 Bold Prediction for Each Game on NFL Week 2 Preseason Schedule<\/a><\/p>\n

Buccaneers Now Expected to \u2018Figure It Out\u2019 With Vita Vea<\/p>\n

\"VitaJan 3, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea (50) warms up before the game against the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn ImagesCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

When Vea demanded a trade, the news came as a surprise. No one knew whether the Buccaneers would cave by paying their star DT or find a trade partner. Yet, despite receiving heavy interest, the Bucs insisted that they wanted to hold onto their defensive cornerstone. <\/p>\n

Now, according to ESPN\u2019s NFL insider Adam Schefter\u2019s appearance on \u201cThe Pat McAfee Show<\/a>\u201c, \u201cit feels like there\u2019s been a shift\u201d between Vea and the Bucs. Now, rather than moving toward a holdout or trade, the Buccaneers are now expected to reach a contract solution with the 31-year-old defender. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like there\u2019s been a shift with Vita Vea and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It feels like we\u2019ve gone from Vita Vea wanting a trade to Vita Vea now wanting to get a deal done. I think eventually the two sides figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter on Vita Vea<\/p>\n

Vea had been seeking a raise that places him more in line with the NFL\u2019s highest-paid defensive tackles in 2026. Vea\u2019s contract has him as the 23rd highest-paid DT in annual average value<\/a>, and he\u2019s set to earn $18 million in cash this season. Chances are, the team will find a way to give him a pay boost while also possibly tacking on another season or two to provide more long-term financial security too. <\/p>\n

For now, the two sides appear to still be negotiating, which is a good thing. After all, it never made sense for a Bucs team with coach Todd Bowles entering a make-or-break season to trade one of their best players. <\/p>\n

Related: NFL Rumors: 3 Identified Suitors for Vita Vea Trade with TB Buccaneers<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\tDedicated NFL copywriter\/editor. My work has been found on Sportsnaut, Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, MSN, Yahoo, and Minnesota Sports … More about Andrew Buller-Russ<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a couple of problems on their hands. Most notably, Baker Mayfield is headed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,2964,137,136],"class_list":["post-376103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}