The Baltimore Ravens are bringing back a familiar face as they look to solidify the interior of their defensive line.
Calais Campbell will sign a one-year deal with the Ravens to play his 19th NFL season, according to a team source. The deal, which is expected to be in the $5.5 million range, will mark a return to Baltimore, where he played from 2020 to 2022. Campbell turns 40 in September.
Campbell, who has built a potential Hall of Fame resume, has played in 278 regular-season games, amassing 960 tackles, 117 sacks, 65 pass deflections, three interceptions and 13 fumble recoveries. He ranks 34th all time in sacks, with only three players active in 2025 having more.
Last year, he returned to the Arizona Cardinals, for whom he played for the first nine years of his career, and had 43 tackles, 6.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits and two pass deflections while starting all 17 games. His 6.5 sacks were tied for his most since 2018, when he had 10.5 as a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Campbell hasn’t missed a game since the 2022 season.
The Ravens have been searching for defensive line help over the past couple of months. Standout defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike had neck surgery in April after missing all but two games last year. His future remains uncertain. Additionally, veteran defensive tackle Broderick Washington is still working his way back from Achilles surgery after he played in just three games last season.
That Baltimore used only one of its 11 picks in this year’s draft on the interior of its defensive line — and it was a seventh rounder to select Michigan’s Rayshaun Benny — suggested that they planned to sign a free agent to augment a group that also includes nose tackles Travis Jones, John Jenkins, C.J. Okoye and 2025 sixth-round pick Aeneas Peebles, who played sparingly as a rookie.
Holding off on signing Campbell until after 4 p.m. on Monday means that he won’t factor into the compensatory draft pick formula. The Ravens are currently projected to get four comp picks for the 2027 draft, and they wouldn’t have wanted to jeopardize that.
Campbell’s return feels like several years in the making. The Ravens, tight to the salary cap, released him in March 2023 in order to create $7 million of cap space. At the time, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta did not rule out Campbell’s return, saying that the defensive lineman “defines what it is to be a Raven.”
The Ravens tried to acquire Campbell from Miami before the 2024 trade deadline and believed they were headed toward a deal, but then Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel stepped in to nix the trade. Baltimore also considered signing Campbell last offseason. However, he was interested in his career going full circle and ultimately re-signed with the Cardinals on a one-year, $5.5 million deal.
