The Tampa Bay Buccaneers extended the contract of their defensive tackle Vita Vea, announced the team on Saturday.

ESPN's Adam Schefter revealed that it's a four-year deal worth $73 million with $42 million guaranteed. It will come into effect in 2023 since the Bucs already chose to exercise the fifth year option for 2022 in Vea's current contract.

"Vita Vea has emerged as one of our league's most disruptive interior defensive linemen due to a unique skillset that combines strength and superior athleticism," Bucs general manager Jason Licht said in a statement.

Vea's average annual salary of $18.25 million is the fifth-best for defensive tackles in the league behind that Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams, Leonard Williams of the New York Giants, DeForest Buckner of the Indianapolis Colts and Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Vea made his defensive presence felt the most last season. Though he missed 13 regular season and playoff games because of a fractured ankle, the 12th-overall selection of the 2018 NFL Draft achieved a pass-rush win rate of 60.4 percent against double teams and a total of four quarterback (QB) pressures in the National Football Conference Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers and Super Bowl LV against the Kansas City Chiefs.

As a result, the QBs of the two teams, Aaron Rodgers of the Packers and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs had to beat a lot of difficulties to the passing position.

Vea has produced 103 tackles, 16 tackles for a loss, 31 quarterback hits, 11.5 sacks, and six passes defensed in the past four seasons.

"Vita's abilities as both a premier run stuffer and pass rusher are rare, and his presence on the defensive front has played a major role in our ability to consistently rank among the league leaders in rush defense since his arrival. We look forward to having Vita remain a core piece of our defense for years to come and are excited to continue watching him develop into one of the best nose tackles in the NFL," Licht said.