Calais Campbell indeed will be coming back for an 18th NFL season, but it won’t be for the Miami Dolphins.
And it also won’t be for the Baltimore Ravens, the team that figured as the logical competition for Campbell’s services.
No, Campbell is going back where his NFL career started in 2008, as a member of the Arizona Cardinals.
He agreed to terms on a one-year contract for $5.5 million with a max value of $7.5 million, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. And for anyone wondering about this being an April Fool’s joke, the Cardinals website has a story on the signing and we doubt they’d joke about something like that.
Campbell is getting a modest raise over the $3.125 million he made with the Dolphins last season when he produced more than any 38-year-old ever should be expected.
“Calais specifically is in a unique situation where he is assessing multiple options as a player in the 45th year of his career,” McDaniel said, seriously at the start but jokingly at the end. “So I understand and there’s a lot at play with regard to, all right, so your play is high, you decided to play another year; he’s assessing those options. He was a very important player to the team last year, and I see him having the opportunity to be a very important player on the team this year.
“I also see … I feel like we have some options at the position. He has some options. That position in particular has been a focal point of mine this offseason and I feel good about how it could play out and there’s a couple different scenarios it could play out.”
Campbell didn’t sign with the Dolphins last year until the middle of June, so his decision to continue playing clearly was a lot easier for him this time around.
Arizona seemed like a long shot for Campbell because of his stated desire to compete for a championship, and the Cardinals having made the playoffs once (2021) in the past nine seasons.
Campbell, though, is very familiar with the organization and Arizona itself, having spent his first nine NFL seasons with the Cardinals after being selected in the second round of the 2008 draft out of the University of Miami.
With Arizona, Campbell reached the Super Bowl as a rookie in 2008 and then reached the NFC Championship Game during the 2015 season before losing against the Carolina Panthers.
Campbell then spent three seasons each with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens.
His best NFL season came in 2017 with the Jaguars when he finished with 14.5 sacks, was named first-team All-Pro and helped Jacksonville reach the AFC Championship Game.
But after one season with Atlanta and one with the Dolphins, it seemed like Baltimore would be the best fit for him to continue his career because the Ravens look like the former team of his closest to a Super Bowl.
Campbell spent three seasons with that organization, from 2020-22, which ironically sandwiched Lamar Jackson’s two NFL MVP years and the one where he was the runner-up to Josh Allen.
While McDaniel talked about remaining options for the Dolphins, probably none were as appealing as having Campbell for a second year.
While fellow defensive tackle Zach Sieler was named the Dolphins MVP last year, Campbell actually earned a higher grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking sixth among all NFL interior defenders last year. Against the run, Campbell was right at the top.
The Dolphins’ defensive tackle room right now consists of Sieler, Benito Jones, Matt Dickerson and Neil Farrell, so obviously more help is needed.
Campbell leaving certainly won’t change the idea that a defensive tackle very well might become the target for the Dolphins when they pick at number 13 in the first round of the 2025 draft.
Even if Campbell had come back, the Dolphins would have needed to supplement that.
Now, the gaping hole at defensive tackle remains as large as ever, and the Dolphins have to say goodbye to an ageless wonder who was a hit on and off the field in his one season for Miami.
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