The Baltimore Ravens must have felt incomplete on the defensive front following the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Ravens finished the 2025 season with the ninth-best PFF grade in run defense, the fifth-best in tackling, but the third-worst pass-rushing grade across the NFL.
Baltimore boasts a unit that already features Travis Jones, John Jenkins, and Broderick Washington Jr., among others, and added star power this offseason in edge rusher Trey Hendrickson
But with some questions about the health and availability of players such as Nnamdi Madubuike, who underwent neck surgery earlier in the offseason, the Ravens have decided to bring back a former franchise player to Baltimore for a 19th NFL season at age 40.
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According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Ravens have reached a one-year deal with veteran defensive end Calais Campbell, who already spent three seasons in Baltimore.
“Six-time Pro-Bowl DE Calais Campbell, who played in Baltimore from 2020-2022, is returning to sign a one-year deal with the Ravens, per source. Campbell will 40 on Sept. 1 and this will be his 19th NFL season,” Schefter reported.
Campbell appeared in all 17 games for the Arizona Cardinals in 2025, recording 43 tackles, 6.5 sacks, nine TFL and 16 quarterback hits.
His 6.5 sacks matched his highest total since 2018, when he last posted a double-figure mark (10.5) on that front.
Back on New Year's Eve, following the Cardinals' end of the season, Campbell was still considering retirement before opting to return for another season, continuing a career that began as a second-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.
"It's not a personal decision, it's a decision everybody has some kind of interest in," Campbell said. "I try to be respectful (answering questions), but I have to go through my process. I don't know if I'm going to retire or not because I don't know how my body is going to feel."
The six-time Pro Bowler will bring significant experience to the Ravens, having racked up 117 career sacks, 960 combined tackles, 282 quarterback hits and 18 forced fumbles throughout his prior 18 seasons.
