New Giants Rumors on Vita Vea After Failed Jeffery Simmons Pursuit at NFL Trade Deadline

Having already tried to go big before the trade deadline by inquiring about Jeffery Simmons, the New York Giants are still looking to take a home-run swing to improve the interior of their defensive line.

Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler , Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Vita Vea is on the "radar" for the Giants leading up to the Nov. 10 deadline.

Before Simmons was traded to the Chicago Bears last week, Giants head coach John Harbuagh reportedly made a direct call to Tennessee Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk in an attempt to deal for the four-time Pro Bowler.

Vea would certainly be an incredible fallback plan for the Giants, but the Bucs' turnaround following their 0-4 start would seemingly make it unlikely they even entertain a trade offer for him.

Fowler noted the Buccaneers are not expected to move Vea. It's not a bad idea to at least try to gauge Tampa's interest after Vea had a contract standoff with the club during the offseason before the two sides agreed to a one-year, $30 million extension in August. He will be 32 next season with a $30.6 million cap hit in 2027.

The Bucs have won three of their last four games, including back-to-back wins over divisional opponents in the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons. They are only one game back in the loss column of Carolina for first place in the NFC South.

New York's desire to be aggressive speaks to the fact this team looks to be ahead of schedule right now and the rest of the NFC East being a disaster. The Giants are the only team in the division with a winning record and are unbeaten in two divisional games thus far.

It does perhaps sting that the Giants are looking for an interior defensive lineman after trading Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals in the offseason, but they are set up well to potentially make the playoffs in Harbaugh's first season as head coach.

The Giants have already won as many games this season as they did in all of 2025. One more victory will give them their highest single-season win total since finishing 6-11 in 2023.