Vita Vea: Home is where the heart is, my heart is in Tampa

Defensive tackle Vita Vea’s contract impasse with the Buccaneers came to an end on Wednesday when he agreed to a one-year extension that ties him to the team through 2027 with $30 million in new money.

That agreement came after Vea requested a trade heading into training camp, but Vea said at a Thursday press conference that his intent was never to move to another club. Vea said that “home is where the heart is” and made it clear that his heart was always in Tampa.

“I always wanted to be a Buc,” Vea said. “I wanted to be a Buc for life. That’s why I’m glad we were able to get this done. This is something that happens every year, it just so happened to be me this year. There’s just stuff we had to figure out on both sides and we got it all squared away.”

Vea has not practiced this summer and the word at Bucs camp has been that he’s been sidelined after tweaking his back during a conditioning test. Vea won’t play this week and head coach Todd Bowles said that he won’t play in the preseason finale either, but the new contract should clear the way for him to get ready for Week 1.