TAMPA — Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht flatly rejected the idea of trading two-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Vita Vea on Thursday, days after the veteran reportedly requested a deal before the start of training camp.
“I have no plans on trading Vita,” Licht said after the team’s Thursday morning practice. “Vita is a great player. He is, I think, one of the better D-linemen in franchise history and he is a very important piece to this.”
Vea, who is entering the final year of the four-year extension he signed in January 2022, has missed seven camp practices after sustaining a back injury during the conditioning run at the start of camp. He has been present on the field but has not participated in drills. Licht characterized the injury as minor and said the team is being cautious.
“He’s got a minor thing right now and we don’t want to make it a major thing,” Licht said. “I don’t want to deal with hypotheticals right now, but he’s got a minor thing and we’re trying to take care of our players. Right now, it’s one day at a time. We’re just one week into camp, so, like I said, with him, we’re taking care of him. We want to make sure a minor thing doesn’t become a major thing.”
Vea is coming off a 2025 campaign in which he started all 17 games and played a career-high 73% of the Bucs’ defensive snaps. The eighth-year lineman, drafted 12th overall in 2018, recorded 4.5 sacks and 34 tackles last season and has compiled 35 career sacks while anchoring one of the league’s top run defenses.
Licht hinted at recent progress in contract negotiations, suggesting both sides want a resolution before the season opener. “We’ve been engaged with his agent recently,” Licht said. “I don’t know how it’s going to end but we’ve been engaged and that’s at least some progress. [Vita playing for the Bucs] is what the hope is and that’s what we’re trying to resolve right now.”
The Bucs’ first preseason game is eight days away, though Tampa Bay typically limits starter participation in exhibition play. The more critical target is Sept. 13, when the regular season kicks off in Cincinnati.