GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers need help on the defensive line. Calais Campbell maybe needs a job.

The Packers are looking to take that next step and finally get back to the Super Bowl. The same is true for Campbell.

The Packers have a new defensive coordinator, Jonathan Gannon. Campbell played for him last year in Arizona.

Sometimes, the dots are almost too easy to connect. In Fox Sports’ look at the top 100 free agents, Greg Auman predicted Campbell, his 52nd-ranked player and a “living legend,” would sign with the Packers.

When NFL free agency opens for business next month, Campbell should be at least near the top of general manager Brian Gutekunst’s list. While it’s true that Gutekunst seems to have a phobia of having 30-year-old players on the team – the only players age 30-plus on the roster are kicker Brandon McManus and long snapper Matt Orzech – Campbell, who will turn 40 before Week 1, is a unicorn.

Timeless Production

A second-round pick in 2008, Campbell in Year 18 last season started all 17 games for a third consecutive season. He had 6.5 sacks, nine tackles for losses and 16 quarterback hits while averaging about 31 snaps per game.

Toward the end of the year, he was undecided about playing another season.

“I’ve always tried to play well enough that I have a choice,” Campbell told reporters. “I think I did well enough this year that I will have a choice. That’s a good feeling.”

Campbell has been an All-Pro or Pro Bowler seven times. He went to the Super Bowl as a rookie with the Cardinals but hasn’t returned. The Packers haven’t been to the Super Bowl since 2010.

At 6-foot-8 and 315 pounds, Campbell could be a big help – literally and figuratively.

Campbell remains a quality player capable of impacting the game on all three downs. According to league data, Arizona’s run defense was 0.40 yards per attempt better when Campbell was on the field. Meanwhile, of the 100 interior defensive linemen with at least 193 pass-rushing opportunities, Campbell tied for 23rd in Pro Football Focus’ pass-rushing productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap.

Productive Leader

Campbell spent his first nine seasons with the Cardinals, then returned for 2025 with a one-year contract. He was voted a team captain by his teammates.

“It means a lot,” Gannon, who was fired as head coach of the Cardinals after three seasons, said in announcing the captains. “When we signed him, we kind of had the foresight that he was going to impact our team in a positive way. But cool to see his peers vote for him. He was ecstatic.”

Campbell called it “huge” to be voted a captain.

“You’ve got to lead by example,” Campbell said of what it meant to be voted captain. “You’ve got to be early and on time for all the meetings. You’ve got to create enthusiasm, keep the energy good and make sure everyone’s on the same page. Being accountable and try to hold everyone on the team accountable.

“Now I’ve got to live up to it. I got to be worthy and be a captain every day and represent this team at the highest level and make sure we do what we’re supposed to do.”

Campbell has a chance to make some history if he plays another season. He has played in 278 regular-season games. The NFL record for a front-seven defender is Jim Marshall’s 282. On the youngest team in the NFL, which is what Green Bay has been each of the last three years, Campbell could make his mark on and off the field.

“I know when GMs and decision-makers [sign me], they’re looking for me to come into a building” and be a leader, he said after signing with Arizona last year. “They know that I come with a lot of leadership capabilities and prestige that a lot of the young guys respect, which is really cool. And so, I don’t take that lightly. I take that with a lot of pride and I try to do the best I can.”

With Campbell, Gannon would have an instant leader who could serve as a conduit between the coaches and the players. With Gannon, Campbell would know he’d be used the right way. When he joined the Cardinals, he said he was capable of playing 35 “Grade A plays” per game. Gannon stuck to it, never playing him more than 38 snaps.

During training camp last season, Campbell said he’d be “very surprised” if 2025 wasn’t his final season. By the end of the season, he had opened the door for another year.

“I don’t know if I’m going to retire or not because I don’t know how my body is going to feel,” he said. “Right now, I feel good enough to play a football game, and that matters most because I want to be available and healthy.”

Maybe the opportunity to rejoin Gannon, whom he called a “brilliant defensive mind” who “knows how to utilize talent,” and play for a team that should be a Super Bowl contender would be enough to coax him back for one more year.

As Gannon said last year, “He’s going to be great for our entire team, the defense and the D-line room.” He’d be great for the Packers, too.

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