Years after mulling retirement at the end of his first go-round run with the Ravens, the ageless Calais Campbell is back.
The six-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman will turn 40 just days before the start of his 19th NFL season and is now set to return to Baltimore for the first time since 2022 after logging 6 1/2 sacks and 16 quarterback hits with Arizona last season. It marked Campbell’s 12th season with at least six quarterback takedowns, which suggests he’s still more than capable of helping a defensive line that may or may not have two-time Pro Bowl selection Nnamdi Madubuike and didn’t add interior defensive line talent in last week’s draft until the seventh-round selection of Michigan’s Rayshaun Benny. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus credited Campbell with 33 pressures and graded him a rock-solid 23rd out of 127 qualified interior defenders last season.
Since collecting 11 sacks over 41 games for the Ravens from 2020-22, the 6-foot-8, 315-pound Campbell has registered three straight seasons of five or more sacks for Atlanta, Miami, and the Cardinals. The sides nearly reunited at the 2024 trade deadline when general manager Eric DeCosta tried to acquire Campbell from the Dolphins, but a deal couldn’t be completed.
Though Campbell appeared in all 17 games for the third straight season, it’s notable that his total defensive snap count of 524 was his lowest since 2020 when he missed four games due to injury and a bout of COVID-19. The Ravens would likely be thrilled to have a productive Campbell for 20 to 25 snaps per game at this late stage of his career.
DeCosta remained tightlipped about Madubuike’s status on the first night of the draft after the 28-year-old recently underwent neck surgery. Madubuike hasn’t played since injuring his neck in the Week 2 win over Cleveland last September, but an ESPN report said the mid-April surgery “left his doctors believing he will be able to resume playing” in 2026. Of course, the team’s own doctors would need to clear Madubuike for an on-field return.
“There’s not much I can say. I will say that Nnamdi is here. … He’s here now in the offseason program,” DeCosta said last week. “But that’s internal business. It’s his business. If he wants to say anything about anything, he’s more than welcome to. But as a club, I think our policy is to protect the players and not have any kind of statements regarding their health or anything personal like that. But he is here, and he’s going to be here as far as I know, and we’re excited about that.”
The Ravens visited with veteran free-agent nose tackle D.J. Reader in late March, but it’s unclear whether Campbell’s pending signing would close the door on the possibility of signing Reader. For what it’s worth, the Ravens do have some depth at the nose tackle position with Travis Jones, John Jenkins, and C.J. Okoye all capable of playing there. Campbell gives Baltimore an experienced option at the 5-technique spot in addition to the ability to be able to move inside to play the run or get after the quarterback.
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Originally a 2008 second-round pick out of Miami, Campbell has piled up 117 sacks over 18 seasons. He was also voted the 2019 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, which speaks to his character off the field as well as his positive influence inside a locker room.
Ravens sign most of 2026 draft class on cusp of rookie camp
In what’s increasingly become a formality over the years, the Ravens wasted little time signing most of their 2026 draft class as players began reporting to Owings Mills for this weekend’s rookie camp.
Baltimore signed first-round guard Vega Ioane and eight other members of its 11-man class, a list that includes third-round wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane, fourth-round wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, fourth-round tight end Matt Hibner, fifth-round cornerback Chandler Rivers, fifth-round tight end Josh Cuevas, fifth-round running back Adam Randall, sixth-round punter Ryan Eckley, and seventh-round guard Evan Beerntsen. Draft picks sign standard four-year contracts for slotted amounts.
As of Thursday evening, only second-round outside linebacker Zion Young and Benny remained unsigned.
