17-year veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell remains one of the best players on the free agent market despite his advanced age. Spending the 2024 season with the Miami Dolphins, the six-time Pro Bowler started all 17 games while finishing the year with five sacks, 52 tackles, 12 tackles-for-loss, 12 quarterback hits, and an 82.3 PFF grade, the sixth-best mark among 118 eligible defensive tackles. While the veteran is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning, his sustained level of high play shows he can still bring something to a contender.
According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, the Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens are currently pursuing Calais Campbell as a free agent. However, Jackson’s report adds Campbell is currently thinking about retiring, which makes sense considering his age. Pehraps he will hang up the cleats, but he could draw interest from additional teams following the 2025 NFL Draft.
Ravens, Dolphins Fighting Over Free Agent Calais Campbell
Known Suitors
Calais Campbell was one of the best defensive players on the Miami Dolphins last year, and it’s easy to see why the team would like to retain the free agent. While Miami missed the playoffs last year, they have the pieces to return to the postseason in 2025. Tua Tagovailoa is healthy, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are still a good wide receiver duo, and Mike McDaniel is one of the game’s better head coaches. While they aren’t the betting favorites for the Super Bowl, they should make a push. However, Campbell may prefer a team with better odds of winning it all.
If he does, he should sign with the Baltimore Ravens. Gifted with one of the game’s best all-around rosters and an elite quarterback in Lamar Jackson, the Ravens have as good a shot of any at winning the Super Bowl. From a defensive standpoint, the team has three above-average pass rushers in edge defenders Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh, and defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike. While Calais Campbell won’t make the defensive line any younger, he will give the team another dangerous pass rusher. No offensive line can hold off four dangerous pass rushers for an entire game, and Campbell could be the missing piece to finally put this team over the hump.
Other Fits
The Carolina Panthers are not Super Bowl contenders, but that shouldn’t stop them from pursuing Calais Campbell as a free agent. After narrowly missing on the great Milton Williams, the team had to settle for former Chiefs defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton. Wharton is a fine player, but Campbell brings more to a defensive line that ranked at or near the bottom of every statistic last year. Campbell’s presence, along with the return of Derrick Brown, should give the Panthers a formidable anchor in the middle of their defense.
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh believes games are won and lost in the trenches, and the Michigan man has done a solid job of building to that philosophy in free agency. However, while the running back and offensive line should improve, the defense tackle position needs some work. While the team re-signed Teair Tart, they lost Poona Ford to the Los Angeles Rams. Calais Campbell could easily replace Ford as a starting part of this defense, and the free agent should help this team compete in arguably the league’s toughest division.
Main Photo: Kevin R. Wexler – Imagn Images
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