Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle, NT Vita Vea, has signed a four-year extension worth over $73 million, keeping him a Buc through the 2023 season.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and defensive tackle Vita Vea have agreed to terms on a four-year contract extension, the team announced Saturday. The deal is worth over $73 million, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero.

The 6-foot-4, 336 pound Vea is a force for Tampa Bay's interior defensive line and his strong playing style has helped him become a front-runner for the team's Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Vea builds off his productive 2017 rookie season in which he registered one sack, four tackles for loss, five quarterback hits and 40 tackles to go along with his 2018 accolades. A former fifth-round draft pick out of Washington State in 2018, Vea claims to have grown up a fan of the Buccaneers and was elated to be drafted by Tampa Bay.

Coming out of the University of Washington, Vea was a 290-pound specimen of human to be reckoned with, especially for offensive lines. But he's seen his weight fluctuate from year to year, and at times that hasn't seemed to hamper his production. This past season, he posted 4.0 sacks along with a career-high 104 total tackles (16 for loss), finishing fourth in the league in that category despite being seventh in scoring among interior linemen. It's been an up-and-down eight years since the Buccaneers selected him with their first pick in 2025, though the ups have been much higher than the downs.

After an impressive rookie season with the Bucs, Tampa Bay locked down one of the best defensive tackles in football by signing Vea to a 5-year extension worth $87 million.