Vita Vea Signs Contract Extension
January 8th, 2022
Cashed in.
Updated 11:33 p.m. – Well this is a nice way to end the regular season of your fourth season.
One of the more underrated draft picks the Bucs have had in recent years, monster-strong defensive tackle Vita Vea, has signed a four-year contract extension, Adam Schefter of BSPN reported. It’s a $73 million deal with $42 million guaranteed, he said. It’s unclear whether Vea will still play next season on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, which is worth about $8 million.
Why is Vea such an underrated pick? Well first off, he’s one of the best defensive tackles. So Joe will start right there. Then, it’s who the Bucs didn’t draft in the first round of the 2018 draft and who they drafted later.
Many Bucs fans hollered for years with the common refrain, “We could have had Derwin James!”
Well, in the fourth round of that same draft, the Bucs drafted Jordan Whitehead who has evolved into one of the better safeties in the game. Meanwhile, James is what he was in college: injury-prone.
Joe will take Vea and Whitehead over James any day of the week.
TAMPA TWO talks Bucs-Panthers!
More fun from The Identity Tampa Bay and Joe.
January 8th, 2022 at 9:52 pm
Worth. Every. Penny!
January 8th, 2022 at 9:56 pm
I’m glad he’s here. He’s a monster.
January 8th, 2022 at 9:56 pm
Agreed. Vea was the right guy in hindsight and Whitehead was a steal.
January 8th, 2022 at 9:59 pm
Congratulations Vita. Well deserved.
January 8th, 2022 at 10:00 pm
My all time favorit buc(next to brady) is Vita. He is already a buc legend with a Super Bowl ring
January 8th, 2022 at 10:00 pm
Glad we got ahead 42 mil is a bargain for the best NT in football
January 8th, 2022 at 10:01 pm
He is a beast. Glad we have him. Injured a lot.
January 8th, 2022 at 10:07 pm
Now sign whitehead and if devin white can get back to the 2020 form. This defense has a star at each level locked up for year….oh and we still got Shaq for 3 more seasons.
January 8th, 2022 at 10:10 pm
Does this hurt us in the offseason trying to sign godwin and Davis?
January 8th, 2022 at 10:11 pm
😎🏉🥇
January 8th, 2022 at 10:25 pm
Great move
January 8th, 2022 at 10:34 pm
JOE
Don’t overlook that they also got Rojo, Carlton Davis, and Cappa that draft before Whitehead!
What a phenomenal draft for the Buccaneers.
As for Vea and his contract, AWESOME. Glad he’s locked up.
January 8th, 2022 at 10:40 pm
That is GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!! My favorite Buc!
January 8th, 2022 at 10:48 pm
Usually, after a player signs a big contract, they under-perform until the next contract. I hope I am wrong as we need the beast mode of VV in this playoffs.
January 8th, 2022 at 10:52 pm
Eefing awesome!!!
January 8th, 2022 at 11:01 pm
Bring on Minshew next week!
January 8th, 2022 at 11:05 pm
any chance they announced vita right on the cusp of the AB fiasco to inadvertently say:
“yeah we’re giving money out and paying dudes, but just not you”
just something to ponder
January 8th, 2022 at 11:06 pm
aww man, glad big vita will be clogging the middle for years to come…
way to go bucs front office!
January 8th, 2022 at 11:06 pm
Eagled resting players what idiots. That’s a cardinal sin. I am hoping for the second seed and the iggles.
January 8th, 2022 at 11:07 pm
Licht mustve been on PEDs , a draft masterclass
January 8th, 2022 at 11:14 pm
I wanted him to be. Buc so bad!! I was overwhelmed with happiness when we got him. Just look at his college tape that power and speed can’t be taught. Look up how he picked up a MASSIVE Rock and the meaning of it. He picked it up not knowing the amazing significance of his feat
January 8th, 2022 at 11:23 pm
Get me Carlton Davis, Whitehead, and Godwin!
January 8th, 2022 at 11:32 pm
Minshew Not going to play next week. Obviously be Jalen Hurts.
I agree resting playing is usually a mistake. If the point was to be heathy for the playoffs it didn’t work. Lots of eagles went down tonight. That’s when you get injured, trying not to get hurt.
January 8th, 2022 at 11:41 pm
yes hurts is resting up a bit before his big ole azz whoopin’ at ray jay next weekend
🙂
#VitasComingAfterYouWithNoToothAndVeryFatPockets
January 8th, 2022 at 11:42 pm
LOVE this move! Vea, White and Winfield…. Our up the middle future for hopefully many years. I always get confused on these extensions though…. He had another year still under contract so does he have 4 more on top of that (5 years total), or is that one of the years so it’s really like 3 additional years? Will be wearing my Vea jersey tomorrow now!
January 8th, 2022 at 11:50 pm
Awesome. Dude is so fun to watch.
January 9th, 2022 at 12:45 am
Congratulations to the real MVP on defense. It’s rare to see him get pushed backward. Even more rare to get pancaked. Glad for him.
January 9th, 2022 at 12:45 am
Good news. Now please pay Godwin.
January 9th, 2022 at 2:45 am
BUT WHAT ABOUT DERWANGUS JAMES?
Oh yeah we got Vita AND Whitehead for the price of a Derwangus.
January 9th, 2022 at 3:09 am
Stop the foolishness. Why do you have to try to bash derwin james to elevate whitehead? Yes, james is exactly what he was at fsu whichbis not just the best at his position but one of the best defensive players period. He is a 2 time pro bowler and an all pro. He will make his 2nd all pro this year. Any one trying to put whitehead or james on the same level is a football dunce. Whitehead is good and he has played an important role but he is no derwin james. Stop the foolishness
January 9th, 2022 at 5:14 am
Alstott up the gut … ‘LOVE this move! Vea, White and Winfield…. Our up the middle future for hopefully many years.’
Was thinking exactly the same thing when I first heard that we signed Vea to a 4-year extension. So critical to have an ‘anchor’ in each position group to have a truly great defense. Brings back memories of Sapp-Brooks-Lynch; each of them provided HOF performance AND leadership in their respective groups for many years & were the keys to us having some awesome defenses.
Next in line is to hopefully lock up Davis & Whitehead for another 4 years. Both seem to have been hurt quite a bit recently, but that seems to be the story around the league (maybe due to the impact COVID has had on training?). Whitehead’s availability past 4 yrs has been right around 90%; Davis’ has been a tad less than 80% (Vea’s has been just a tad more than 75% in comparison). Makes me appreciate more what Ndamukong Suh has accomplished over his 12-yr career: an availability of 99% (he’s started 190 of the 192 regular-season games in that stretch). Still worth every penny of whatever we pay him.
January 9th, 2022 at 7:08 am
Sweet!!! That’s a win-win for everyone and he’s worth it.
January 9th, 2022 at 7:18 am
Awesome news! Dang. I didnt realize nose tackles are making 18 mil per. Thats a lot.
He should be a happy man today. Playing with his hair on fire
January 9th, 2022 at 9:54 am
Greenberg is the capologist for Tampa Bay and maybe the best one out there-Licht tells Greenberg who he wants to keep and sign and Greenberg makes it work. Bucs are in real good shape on cap next year-so do not believe those that say we are not.
January 9th, 2022 at 10:53 am
Best news in last two weeks.
January 9th, 2022 at 11:13 am
Congratulations! Well deserved.
January 9th, 2022 at 11:41 am
Wow! The most expensive anchor for a pirate ship and worth every dollar! Lesko the guys who do that are me first guys, looking at Vita’s personality and demeanor, we don’t have to worry about that with him
January 9th, 2022 at 12:02 pm
Defense Rules…. Couldn’t agree more about Suh! Hope he gives us another year as well. Maybe our most underrated player this year.
January 9th, 2022 at 12:59 pm
webster Says:
January 9th, 2022 at 3:09 am
Stop the foolishness. Why do you have to try to bash derwin james to elevate whitehead? Yes, james is exactly what he was at fsu whichbis not just the best at his position but one of the best defensive players period. He is a 2 time pro bowler and an all pro. He will make his 2nd all pro this year. Any one trying to put whitehead or james on the same level is a football dunce. Whitehead is good and he has played an important role but he is no derwin james. Stop the foolishness
……….
Whitehead career: 5int, 24pd, 3ff,2fr, 287tkls, 218solo, 22TFL
James career: 5int, 19pd, 3ff,0fr, 248tkls, 169 solo, 19tfl
Man some people are stupid!
January 9th, 2022 at 1:41 pm
It’s a lot of money for a part-time player.
Hopefully he’ll lose about 30 pounds so he can play more than 44% of defensive snaps, so he can be in there on the goalline on important downs instead of on the sideline.
January 9th, 2022 at 1:58 pm
My man Vita. Crack some heads today Big Boy. Well Deserved.