July 18th, 2026
Not enough almost-sacks?
Joe thought this was very cool of the WWL.
And, hey, Joe’s panting coming down the final stretch of the NFL dead period with training camp 11 days away.
It’s not like BSPN to address areas where they could be taken to task. So Joe doffs his cap at the BSPN suits who allowed NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler to address potential oversights.
Fowler and the four-letter this week published its Top-10 list of every position. The annual exercise is cobbled together after Fowler (and others?) consults with and collects votes from NFL suits, coaches and scouts.
One interesting omission was Bucs’ Pro Bowl defensive tackle Vita Vea. That seemed odd.
Fowler addressed why Vea did not make the cut.
Vita Vea, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Vea is still widely feared as one of the league’s best nose tackles, but the 31-year-old’s pressure numbers have fallen, and he was not one of the top 10 run-stopping DTs in ESPN’s run stop win rate.
Oh, those pressures! Bad Vea! You didn’t have enough almost-sacks. Shame on you! You instead preferred to put quarterbacks on their asses. The nerve!
Sadly, as players like to say, the NFL is a business. Joe guesses the lack of almost-sacks may be a reason the Bucs haven’t reworked Vea’s contract. His contract expires after this season and Vea was a hold-in during minicamp.
Imagine the idea that a defensive tackle puts quarterbacks on the ground as opposed to running near them and yelling “BOO!” and that could cost a guy serious coin. That’s the crazy world we live in.