Ravens to reunite with 6-time Pro Bowl DE Calais Campbell on 1-year deal

Brian Wacker, Baltimore Sun on Apr 30, 2026

Published in Football

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BALTIMORE — A familiar face is returning to the Ravens as they try to shore up their defensive front.

Calais Campbell, who played for Baltimore from 2020 to 2022, is signing a one-year deal, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Baltimore Sun on Thursday. Terms of the agreement were not immediately available. He made $5.5 million with the Arizona Cardinals last season.

Campbell will turn 40 on Sept. 1, and this will mark his 19th NFL season. But he has remained productive deep into his career and is coming off a season in which he had 6 1/2 sacks, 43 tackles — including nine for loss — two pass deflections and 33 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. His addition should also provide both a boost and depth to the interior of the Ravens’ defensive line.

He joins a group that includes Nnamdi Madubuike, Travis Jones and veterans Broderick Washington and John Jenkins, along with second-year player Aeneas Peebles, C.J. Okoye, and rookie Rayshaun Benny.

Madubuike, however, is coming off a season-ending neck injury and had surgery in April after being out for all but two games last year, and his future remains unclear. Washington played in just three games last season and is returning from Achilles surgery.

The Ravens used just one pick on a defensive lineman in last week’s NFL draft, taking Benny out of Michigan in the seventh round, further sparking the likelihood they would add to the group in free agency. Campbell’s addition also bolsters a pass rush group that also includes outside linebackers Trey Hendrickson, second-year second-round pick Mike Green, Tavius Robinson and second-round rookie Zion Young.

By waiting until after Monday at 4 p.m. to sign him, the move also won’t count toward the compensatory draft pick formula. Currently, Baltimore is projected to have four compensatory picks in next year’s draft.

That Campbell, the oldest active defensive player in the NFL, is returning to Charm City is not surprising and was practically a matter of when, not if.

After being released by the Ravens in March 2023 to clear up $7 million in salary cap space, Campbell signed a one-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons before doing the same with the Miami Dolphins a year later. He then signed with Arizona, where he spent the first nine years of his career before spending the next three with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Ravens tried to trade with the Dolphins for Campbell ahead of the 2024 deadline, but then-Miami coach Mike McDaniel stepped in to nix the deal. Baltimore also contemplated adding Campbell last offseason before he signed with the Cardinals.

For his career, Campbell, a first-team All-Pro in 2017 and three-time second-team All-Pro selection, has appeared in 278 games and amassed 960 tackles, 117 sacks, 65 pass deflections, three interceptions, 18 forced fumbles and 13 fumble recoveries. He ranks 34th all time in sacks and has had at least five each of the past four seasons.

Campbell was also named Walter Peyton NFL Man of the Year in 2019 and to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s.