Bucs nose tackle and Super Bowl LV champion, one of the most physically imposing interior defenders in football.
Vita Vea has been Tampa Bay's defensive line anchor since 2018. The 2025 season produced his third career Pro Bowl and continued the trend of him eating double teams to free up edge production. Tampa won the NFC South for the third straight year in part because Vea collapses the pocket inside.
Path to the league
Washington Huskies product taken 12th overall by Tampa in 2018. 347 pounds with explosive get-off. Made the Pro Bowl in 2022 with 6.5 sacks and became one of the few interior defenders who can rush from the 0-tech.
Career highlights
Super Bowl LV champion. 3x Pro Bowl. 3x NFC South Champion (2023-2025). 25+ career sacks from the interior. Career: 40+ tackles for loss.
2025 season recap
4 sacks, 48 tackles, 8 TFLs. Tampa Bay won the NFC South at 10-7 and lost to Detroit in the Divisional Round. Vea's pressure rate against the run was elite, with PFF grading him as the top run-defending DT in the NFC.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Vita Vea
- Pro Football Reference: Vita Vea
Statistics
2025 season and career2025 Season · Defense
17 games played▶Defense · career
| Year | Team | GP | TOT | SOLO | SACK | INT | FF | FR | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | buccaneers | 17 | 34 | 16 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2024 | buccaneers | 16 | 42 | 27 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023 | buccaneers | 15 | 43 | 28 | 5.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | buccaneers | 14 | 31 | 15 | 6.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | buccaneers | 16 | 33 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2020 | buccaneers | 5 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | buccaneers | 16 | 35 | 19 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2018 | buccaneers | 13 | 28 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Defensive Tackle
- Group
- defense
- College
- Washington
- Hometown
- Milpitas, CA, USA
- Age
- 31
- Status
- active
