Calais Campbell Not An Option To Join Teams In Playoffs

Justin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network notes Dolphins’ veteran DL Calais Campbell is ineligible to sign with a new team.

Given Campbell wasn’t cut by Miami, any player waived after the last Saturday of the regular season cannot be awarded to a team’s roster until after the Super Bowl. 

Miami nearly traded Campbell to the Ravens before nixing the deal at the last minute in the hopes of making a playoff run. There was some question as to whether Miami would do right by Campbell following their elimination from playoff contention, but a move never occurred. 

Campbell finished up his 17th regular season with his future in football in doubt.

He isn’t ready to decide on his status for next year but plans to play the rest of the year like it’s his last. 

“Quite a bit,” Campbell said when asked if he has thought about his future, via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “I try not to make decisions during the season. I try to wait till the offseason to kind of really put myself in that, and I do feel like there’s a chance I could play again. I know that it’s not 100 percent or I’m definitely going to be done, but I have to treat this like it could be my last game. That’s a pretty strong emotional feeling there. As much as I love this game, as much as I’ve given this game, the fact that this could be the last one is kind of crazy. But I’m going to go out there and play with all my heart and try to finish with a bang.”

Campbell, 38, is a former second-round pick of the Cardinals back in 2008. He spent nine years in Arizona before signing a four-year, $60 million contract that included $30 million guaranteed with the Jaguars for the 2017 season.

The Jaguars traded Campbell to the Ravens, who later signed him to a two-year deal worth $27 million total with $20 million guaranteed. Campbell was undecided on returning for the 2022 season and wound up signing a two-year, $12.5 million deal with the Ravens in April of 2022.

However, the Ravens released him after one season and he later signed on with the Falcons on a one-year deal for the 2023 season. He signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Dolphins during the offseason. 

In 2024, Campbell appeared in 17 games for the Dolphins and recorded 52 total tackles, five sacks, and one pass defense.