The Browns have spent plenty of time trying to solve the middle of their defensive line, and Vita Vea’s name drops right into that conversation with some real force.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle has now asked for a trade, and the timing matters. Vea is in the final season of the four-year, $71 million deal he signed in 2023, and his cap hit this year is set at $22.19 million. Negotiations have been going on since the end of the 2025 season, but with training camp here and no new deal in place, the situation has reached the point where Vea wants out.
At 6-foot-4 and 347 pounds, Vea is one of the league’s most imposing interior defenders. He’s also one of the rare defensive tackles who can wreck a play in more than one way.
Dexter Lawrence, who was traded this offseason, and Vea are described as the two best at the position, and the numbers back up the case. Vea has 35 career sacks, including 4.5, 7.0, 5.5 and 6.5 over the last four seasons.
He also has 79 QB hits, 9 batted passes, 30 hurries, 42 knockdowns and 112 pressures.
He’s been just as sturdy against the run. Over eight seasons, Vea has piled up 256 total tackles, 21 missed tackles, 48 tackles for loss, 3 fumble recoveries and 3 forced fumbles. He started 17 games last year and has been durable throughout his career.
That’s why the Browns have to at least think about it.
Cleveland still looks thin on the interior, even after the offseason work by GM Andrew Berry. The current defensive tackle group includes Mason Graham and Maliek Collins as starters, with newly signed Kalia Davis, Mike Hall, Adin Huntington, Sam Kamara and veteran Elijah Chapman behind them. Collins has also been added to the active/PUP list, so there’s no clear answer yet on whether he’ll be ready for Week 1.
The Browns have clearly tried to strengthen the position. Berry drafted Hall in the second round and Graham in the first round last year after earlier efforts to fix the interior didn’t work out the way the team wanted. But Hall, a second-round pick, has not delivered as expected, and this training camp feels like a pivotal one for him.
That’s where Vea becomes so interesting. He was the No. 12 overall pick in the 2018 draft, has a Super Bowl ring and two Pro Bowl selections, and at 31 he could still give Cleveland three years of high-level play. Paired with Graham, he would give the Browns a massive presence in the middle and, in theory, put an end to the run-stopping problems.
There’s also the matter of what it might cost. Lawrence landed with the Cincinnati Bengals after requesting a trade and signed a one-year, $28 million deal, with Cincinnati sending over its first-round pick in this year’s draft.
For Vea, the suggested price here is second- and fifth-round picks. Cleveland has extra draft capital after the Myles Garret trade, which makes that kind of deal at least plausible.
Of course, a trade request can also be part of the negotiation game. But plenty of players who ask out do end up moving. So the question for Berry is simple: should he make the call?
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