How Much Could the Buccaneers Get in a Vita Vea Trade?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to start training camp officially on Wednesday, with rookies reporting on Tuesday — but they won't do it without distractions.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield is looking for a contract extension and gave training camp as a deadline, and he reports just one day from now. But the bigger story right now involves Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea.

Vea has been looking for a contract extension this offseason while he plays on the last year of his $17.75 million APY deal he signed in 2022. He "held in" at training camp when he didn't get his deal, and on Monday, he officially requested a trade from the organization as training camp begins.

The Buccaneers need Vea and Vea would like to stay in one jersey for his NFL career, so the Bucs are more likely to work out a short-term solution with Vea as opposed to actually trading him — he has the highest probability of playing for the Bucs in 2026.

But what if the Bucs do?

If Tampa Bay were to actually trade Vea, they'd probably be able to get a decent return for him. But how much of a return? How much is he worth? We take a look at that here below:

What Could the Buccaneers Get in a Vita Vea Trade?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea (50) prior to the game against the New Orleans Saints | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Let's start with the facts, shall we? Vea is 31 years old. He's had 11.5 sacks and 76 total tackles in his last two seasons, and he's had 62 quarterback pressures from the nose tackle position in his last three seasons, good for second in the NFL in that time span behind Dexter Lawrence.

There are two players with at least 50 (and 60) pressures from the nose tackle spot over the last three combined seasons.

One of them just got dealt for the 10th overall pick.

The other...requested a trade! pic.twitter.com/GiplyohMmi
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) July 27, 2026

Vea is still productive, and if he were to get traded, the Bucs would have a significant hole on their defensive line. But at age 31, the question isn't whether or not Vea can still be productive at this point in his career — it's how long.

ESPN's Benjamin Solak recently made an appearance on SportsCenter, and he revealed that he asked an NFL executive what they thought Vea's trade value was.

The executive answered that Vea could be worth a package that included a second-round pick and a fifth-round pick.

"I texted an executive right when this news broke," Solak said. "I said, 'If you were building a trade package for Vea, what would you do?' He said, 'I don’t know, like a second and a fifth, but it’s going to be hard because that [Dexter] Lawrence package really sets the floor for Vea’s trade value.'"

Lawrence got the New York Giants a first-round pick from the Cincinnati Bengals, but Lawrence is also 28. Vea is three years older and not as productive, so that should be taken into account as well when thinking about a trade package for Vea.

As a result, Vea's package might actually be closer to something like a third-round pick, given that such a pick would also be a possible comp pick if he left in free agency in 2027 (though the Bucs would have no be almost non-existent in free agency to make that case).

Either package would benefit Tampa Bay in the long run and move a player that they were likely going to move on from anyway in 2027. But it's 2026, and for now the Buccaneers need Vea to shore up their defensive line and make another run at the NFC South.

Vea plans to report to training camp. What he does there remains to be seen, and plenty of eyes around the NFL will be glued to him.

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