The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had to deal with the best player on either side of the ball throwing a tantrum over their contracts this offseason, and while the Bucs obliged and paid them both handsomely despite them coming off seasons in which they should have done more to support the team in getting to the playoffs, all Vita Vea and Baker Mayfield did was cost the team in Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Tampa lost 33-27 to Joe Burrow and Cincy on the road, with Mayfield turning the ball over three times via fumbles and barely moving the sticks, failing to generate big plays to get the Bucs back in the game. And while his poor ball security and middling play under center were the biggest culprits in the defeat, he certainly wasn't the only big name on the Bucs who flopped.
Because Vea was terrible, too. Even as the secondary held up in their assignment against Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase to keep the Bucs in the game against the high powered Cincinnati Bengals passing attack, the defensive line was horrendous in this one.
Vita Vea was a non-factor in Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season opener
Vea was front and center in that disappointing display. The Bucs could not get enough momentum in the trenches to stifle Chase Brown and the Bengals offense from controlling the possesion of the game, and the issues at the point of attack, especially from Vea himself, did not do young edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. any favors in what was a very quiet debut from the Miami Hurricanes product.
Vita Vea had zero tackles, zero sacks, and zero overall impact on the game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. To see your best player on defense produce goose eggs is such a major disappointment, and you could argue,in that sense, that he was even worse than Baker Mayfield if you do not account for how the positional value of the quarterback influences the game.
Mayfield turned the ball over, gifted sacks to the Cincinnati Bengals, and did not make any real plays to keep them in the game, sure. But Vea did nothing positive at all. He may as well have not played, and he was stealing that fat paycheck from the Glazers to do absolutely nothing other than get bullied and make everyone else in the front seven look 10 times worse.
Mayfield sent the message to the Bucs that he wasn't worth the money, and Vea honestly did the exact same thing.
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