We are approaching the time of the NFL offseason where some roster moves begin to matriculate before the start of free agency. While the Bucs haven’t made a move yet, we’ve seen the Cowboys re-sign running back Javonte Williams and Tampa Bay’s own rival, the Atlanta Falcons, place the franchise tag on tight end Kyle Pitts.

There’s another end of the spectrum, though, where teams have started the process of moving on from players. An example of that would be the Dolphins cleaning house by releasing veteran wide receiver Tyreek Hill and edge rusher Bradley Chubb as their new front office looks to completely starts over. Miami saved at least $56 million with those two moves.

The Bucs, despite losing to the Dolphins late last season, are not in Miami’s position. By retaining Todd Bowles as head coach, ownership at least believes that they can get back on track in one offseason and compete for a division title – and perhaps a Super Bowl – once again. But like everyone in the NFL, teams are always looking for ways to shed cap space if possible as they look to sign other free agents in about two weeks.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Are there any players on the Bucs that could be a cap casualty this offseason? Not very many. Most of the key players on Tampa Bay’s roster either have guaranteed money, would cost a huge dead cap hit, or are just too important to the team.

Take for example defensive tackle Vita Vea. The veteran Buccaneer has no guaranteed money on the final year of his deal and has a cap hit of $22 million. Letting him go would take a lot of money off the books and the dead cap hit would only be $6 million.

Bucs DT Vita Vea Is An Unlikely Cap Casualty

Yet Vita Vea is way too important to the Bucs’defense to really even consider parting ways with him right now. Vea and Calijah Kancey have been a great one-two punch for Tampa Bay’s defensive line and Vea has been a long-time captain with great production.

While his stats declined last year, that’s partially due to Kancey missed all but three games in 2025. The Bucs are far worse off if Tampa Bay lets go of Vea and had a defensive tackle group heading into free agency led by the oft-injured Kancey and second-year defensive tackle Elijah Roberts, last year’s fifth-round pick.

Bucs DTs Logan Hall and Vita Vea – Photo by: USA Today

There was a recent article by Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report where he made a list predicting seven “shocking” roster cuts this offseason. Understanding the caveat that it would be a surprise, Vea is mentioned on the list. Here is what was written about Vea:

The Bucs have two top-30 free agents in Jamel Dean and Mike Evans and may be looking for somewhat of a refresh. It’s more likely they work something out just because his departure would leave a hell of a hole up front.

Tampa Bay has a lot of high-priced players under contract with guaranteed money and some important players that have a huge contract year coming up. Vea just turned 31 and that puts him in a tough spot because that’s typically a year where production tends to decline for defensive tackles. It would be wise for the Bucs to take a wait-and-see approach on Vea and not extending him before his contract year.

At the same matter, it would make no sense to cut him either. General manager Jason Licht spoke about Vea the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday where he ensured that Vea’s is staying around and still very important to the defense.

“We’re not ready to say goodbye to Vita,” Licht said. “He’s a big, big part of our defense. He’s been a very good player and remains a very good player for us. But it is tough at some point, especially when you get into our situation and situations like ours, where we have a lot of players that are, deservingly so, making a lot of money at the top of the salary range and deserve it. At some point, it’s a part of the puzzle. You have to take a look at that, take a look at how it affects future years and what you can do.

Bucs DTs Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Vea could likely bank one more big pay day with a good season in 2o26. It may or may not be from the Bucs, as other teams would love to add him to their roster. A vintage performance from Vea this season could put the Bucs defense back to where it wants to be, playing at a high level like it was in 2020 and 2021.

Read the whole Bleacher Report article in this link.

Pewter Report also spoke about the importance of Vea in a recent Pewter Report Podcast. Check out the episode and subscribe to PewterReportTV to see our various podcasts and other Bucs related videos on our YouTube channel.