Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Over that time, the 6-foot-4, 232-pound linebacker would amass 462 tackles (25 for a loss), 7½ sacks and three interceptions. He led the Falcons with 129 tackles in 2019 before signing with Arizona as an unrestricted free agent last March.
A rangy athlete with some coverage chops, Campbell started all 16 games he played for the Cardinals last year, leading the defense with 99 tackles and a career-high seven TFLs.
Arizona chose to make sweeping changes to its defense this offseason, which led to Campbell again hitting the free-agent market. He stayed patient, while training in Minnesota, until the call finally came from Green Bay earlier this month.
"I've really been … waiting for the right opportunity and the right opportunity came, and I jumped on it," Campbell said.
The Packers made a shift with their own defense this offseason when LaFleur tabbed Joe Barry to replace Mike Pettine as coordinator. A linebacker coach by trade, Barry has a lot of intriguing players to work with in Krys Barnes, Kamal Martin, Ty Summers, Oren Burks and rookie Isaiah McDuffie.
One thing Green Bay was lacking, however, was experience after Christian Kirksey was released in March. For that reason, General Manager Brian Gutekunst hinted after the 2021 NFL Draft that the Packers would explore bringing in an established veteran to complement a very young room.
In Campbell's case, his 4,202 NFL defensive snaps played are nearly four times more than the rest of the Packers' inside linebackers combined (1,062).
"He's a big long guy that can run, LaFleur said. "Definitely brings a different dynamic to that room in his ability to just cover, whether it's tight ends or backs. And we think he's a really versatile player. I think he's a great person first and foremost, which I think is so important for our team."