Calais Campbell Said Reunion With Ravens ‘Has Been a Long Time Coming’

After years of trying to bring him back via trade the Baltimore Ravens made signing the future Hall of Famer a priority.

Jan 16, 2021; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Baltimore Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell (93) gestures while jogging on the field prior to an AFC Divisional Round game against the Buffalo Bills at Bills Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

When the Baltimore Ravens released six-time Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell during the 2023 offseason, it was the first time in his life that he had ever gotten cut from a football team.

It was a reluctant parting of ways for general manager Eric DeCosta, who was in a bit of a bind against the clock. The Ravens had to get salary cap-compliant before the start of the new league year and needed to open up more room on the books for two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson's hefty one-year franchise-tag salary amid somewhat tumultuous contract extension negotiations.

While Campbell understood that the move was the most logical immediate solution for the team's predicament from a business perspective, in a recent appearance on 'The Lounge' podcast after officially signing his new one-year deal to return to Baltimore for the 2026 season, he described the ordeal as a "humbling experience" nonetheless.

"It's business. It is what it is, I know it's possible," Campbell said about the bittersweet experience. "I'd love to be here but I get that."

However, when the Ravens first cut him after his first stint with the team from 2020 to 2022, the plan was to bring him back that same offseason after they got some of their financials in order by inking Jackson to a long-term deal.

Unfortunately, DeCosta wasn't able to come to terms with his star signal caller fast enough, and Campbell not only couldn't just wait around for them to figure it out but had an offer from the Atlanta Falcons that was just too good to pass up from a monetary and schematic standpoint.

"I ended up getting a raise in Atlanta," Campbell said. "I liked the way Atlanta was going to use me and stuff like that too, I knew I could make some plays and stuff so it made a lot of sense at the time."

Campbell signed a one-year deal worth $7 million with the Falcons and went on to record his most sacks in four years since before the Ravens traded for him, with 6.5 at 37 years old. In the two seasons that followed, he played on year deals with the Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals, who originally drafted him, and posted five sacks in 2024 and 6.5 sacks at 38 and 39 years old, clearly showing no signs of age or attrition.

In each of the last two years, the Ravens attempted to trade a fifth-round pick for Campbell a second time at or near the midseason deadline, but either weren't able to strike a deal or, in the case of the Dolphins, were almost at the finish line on one until it got vetoed by then-Miami head coach Mike McDaniel. It was clear that the Ravens wanted Campbell back after missing out on him in free agency both years due to more lucrative offers, but this time around, DeCosta made it clear how much they wanted him sooner rather than try to acquire him later.

"This has been a long time coming," Campbell said. "This year was a lot more pressure than it has been in years past. Eric DeCosta called pretty much every year, but this was more like, 'I've got to have you. This is going to make a big difference.' I felt that."

Feeling wanted so passionately played a significant factor in Campbell's ultimate decision to choose the Ravens over his other suitors this offseason, of which there were quite a few, including the Cardinals again, where he has a lot of "family presence", having spent the bulk of his career there.

"It's cool to still be wanted," Campbell said. "There's a lot of people out there who want to play that can't get a job. I keep wanting to play, so I keep playing."

Love of the game remains the biggest motivation

Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Calais Campbell (93) is introduced before their game against the Carolina Panthers at State Farm Stadium on Sept 14, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Set to turn 40 years old just before the 2026 season gets underway, Campbell is at the stage of his career where he is taking things one year at a time. He reevaluates how he feels and whether he wants to continue training to keep playing at a high level, and keeps coming back to the same conclusion: his love of the game is still too great to walk away as long as his body continues to hold up.

"I don't know if there's many people who love [football] as much as me," Campbell said. "You definitely can't love it more than me but you can love it as much as me. There's a few who love it as much as me but I love this game with all my heart. It's been so good to me over the years."

One of the biggest reasons he loves football is the truth that it can reveal about how much work and preparation someone puts into their craft.

"It's a truth teller," Campbell said. "No matter what you do, it's going to tell you if you did enough. You'll get a response immediately. It's going to tell you about how hard you worked, the dedication you put in [and] how hard you studied."

At the NFL level, specifically, it's the best going against the best, which Campbell calls "the ultimate competition."

"You're playing against people who are also tough, bad [and] strong people who also have the will to win," Campbell said. "Now it's a will versus will and I think it's cool that you can't do it by yourself. You gotta have people do it with you. You gotta be able to inspire your teammates to come along and play at an elite level."

The future Hall of Famer with 117 sacks under his belt usually doesn't start his intense training regimen until April and has his agent put a hold on all interested parties until he can assess his body to see if the grind is still something he's willing to go through again.

"I'm going to sign my work," Campbell said. "I'm going to go out there and be a good football player, the best I can be. I'm going to push myself to the limits to be the best I can be and doing that is painful, it's not fun... That takes time. You can't make a decision quickly, you have to think about it for a little while."

Even though he continues to hold off father time longer than most non-quarterbacks, Campbell has been doubted the older he has gotten and even has been told by some general managers that he's "going to fall off a cliff eventually."

"I feel good," Campbell said. "All the fans out there, if you're worried about me, I can't guarantee success. But I feel very similar this year [as] I did last year, and I liked what I did last year. Hopefully I can do that again, maybe a little bit more, just because I feel like we'll be in big moments a lot more often, greatness comes out of you a little bit more."