After being released by the Ravens in a cap-saving move, Calais Campbell is taking a free-agent visit to the Atlanta Falcons.
The #Falcons are planning to host veteran DL Calais Campbell on a free-agent visit this week, sources say. Campbell was recently released by the #Ravens, who kept the door open for his return. But in the meantime, the 15-year veteran will meet with Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/BdxUOBFSfx
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 21, 2023
Campbell was signed through the 2023 season, but the 36-year-old carried a $9.44 million salary cap hit for the upcoming campaign. By releasing him, Baltimore freed up $7 million in space.
The Ravens acquired Campbell in a trade with the Jaguars during the 2020 offseason, and he has been with the club for the past three seasons. The six-time Pro Bowler has been a reliable piece along Baltimore’s defensive line, including making a Pro Bowl in his first season with the club. He is also coming off a 2022 season during which he piled up 5.5 sacks in just 14 games played. So, the veteran All-Pro certainly has gas left in the tank.
Campbell initially entered the league as a second-round pick of the Cardinals in 2008 out of Miami. He spent the first nine years of his career in Arizona, where he blossomed into one of the league’s most feared interior pass rushers.
In 2017, he inked a $60 million deal to join the Jaguars, and Jacksonville was where he put up some of his better statistical seasons, including a 14.5-sack campaign in 2017. Even as he’ll be 37 at the start of next season, Campbell will still be an attractive piece, particularly for the Falcons, who are looking to bolster its defensive front.
The Falcons just announced that Eddie Goldman would be returning from retirement, which gives Atlanta a fairly impressive rotation along the defensive front. Adding a player of Calais Campbell’s caliber would give the club its best defensive front in decades. That would provide new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen with more than enough firepower to improve the worst pass rush in football.
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