Pros and Cons of Lions Signing Calais Campbell
The Lions have already made a concerted effort to upgrade their secondary this offseason. They've added depth and a number of impact players to the position group, including cornerbacks Cameron Sutton and Emmanuel Moseley and hybrid corner/safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
And now they could be turning their attention to addressing their need for a pass-rushing interior defensive lineman.
Enter six-time Pro Bowler Calais Campbell, who was released by the Baltimore Ravens earlier this March.
Campbell, who will be 37 come the start of the 2023 season, has been recently linked to the Lions, and reportedly will be visiting with Detroit in the near future.
The veteran defensive lineman would add a significant pass-rushing punch to a Lions defensive line that severely lacked one on the interior a season ago.
In 14 games in 2022, the veteran defensive lineman amassed 5.5 sacks.
Meanwhile, Isaiah Buggs, Alim McNeil and Benito Jones -- the three interior linemen that logged the most snaps for Detroit this past season -- produced a total of just 3.5 sacks in 2022.
Campbell also generated more total pressures (34) and quarterback hits (14) than each of the aforementioned linemen, while also earning higher pass-rushing and run defense grades from Pro Football Focus (71.9 and 71.5, respectively).
Additionally, of the four linemen, Campbell's PFF overall grade for the past season was the only one north of 70.0. The former second-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals finished with an overall mark of 77.2 in 2022.
If added, Campbell would also serve as a solid veteran presence for the Lions' young trio of returning interior lineman. He's been in the league since 2008, while Buggs, Jones and McNeill have each played in no more than four seasons.
Furthermore, the addition of Campbell would allow Buggs to get off the field a little bit more often in 2023.
Buggs logged a total of 752 snaps last season, and Detroit general manager Brad Holmes revealed at the league meetings earlier this week that he'd like to see that snap count go down this upcoming season.
"Buggs is a very talented player," Holmes told reporters. "The real thing with Buggs is that I think he'll be even better if everything works out in terms of -- he had to play a lot of snaps last year, more snaps than we would have liked for him to play. But, due to the circumstance, he just had to."
The only big detractor with Campbell is the NFL mileage on his body.
If the Lions can look past that, it seems like Campbell would surely be a worthwhile addition for Aaron Glenn's defense.
Remember, even after Detroit's spending spree to start off free agency, it still has about $25.6 million in cap space, according to Spotrac. So, if the Lions can get Campbell on a short-term deal (one or two years) at a reasonable rate ($8.5 million or less a season), I believe it'd be worth it for Holmes to pull the trigger and ink the veteran lineman to a contract.
Update
It has been reported Calais Campbell is signing a free-agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons.
