Are the Raiders in on the Vita Vea sweepstakes?
According to reports out of Tampa, the Buccaneers are not interested in trading their Pro Bowl defensive tackle, but there have been rumors the Raiders might be interested.
The Raiders are believed to be on Vea’s short list of teams he would be interested in playing for, but NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo did not list the Raiders as one of the teams to check in on Vea since he requested a trade last month.
“My understanding is there has been communication between [Vea and the Buccaneers],” Garafolo said on NFL Game Day on Friday.
“A deal is not imminent, teams have called the Buccaneers to see if they are interested in trading him, amongst them I’m told are the Bills, the Bears, the 49ers and there are a few others, as well. But the Buccaneers continue to say internally they are not trading Vita Vea.”
John Spytek and Tom Brady have obvious connections to the Buccaneers, but it’s hard to imagine they would be willing to outbid a trio of Super Bowl contending teams for a 31-year-old defensive lineman looking for a new deal upwards of $30 million per year.
Based on everything the Raiders have done in the last few months; they seem to be focused on the future and a massive investment in Vea wouldn’t necessarily fit the timeline to compete for a Super Bowl in Las Vegas.
The NFL is difficult to predict sometimes, but if Vea is eventually traded, looked for a team in the mix for a Super Bowl in 2026 to be the team that gets him.
The Bears and 49ers would make sense as a landing spot for Vea, but both teams are in the NFC, and the Buccaneers might prefer to send Vea to an AFC team.
On a side note, as dominant as Vea has been in his career, he has never been voted a first or second team All Pro. His highest individual accolades have been two Pro Bowl selections (2021 and 2024).
x: @raidersbeat