Getty Linebacker De'Vondre Campbell #59 of the Arizona Cardinals looks on during a team training camp at State Farm Stadium on August 12, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona.
The Green Bay Packers are on the cusp of adding a new veteran inside linebacker for the 2021 season.
According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, the Packers are bringing in former Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals starter De’Vondre Campbell and expecting to sign him to their 2021 offseason roster assuming he passes his physical.
Campbell, who turns 28 next month, was a fourth-round draft pick for the Falcons in 2016 and started 54 games over his first four years, amassing 363 total tackles, 18 tackles for loss, three interceptions and five forced fumbles. He also started all 16 games in 2020 for the Cardinals as their weakside linebacker and finished one tackle shy of back-to-back 100-tackle seasons.
The Packers are bringing in former Falcons LB De’Vondre Campbell and a signing is expected assuming everything checks out, including a physical, according to a source.
Campbell gives the Packers another option at inside linebacker.
The Packers will need to cut someone from their 90-man roster to clear room for Campbell and could look to trim down their ranks at wide receiver with 11 wideouts currently signed for the offseason.
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Campbell Can Offer Packers Veteran Stability
The Packers have been looking to secure a new veteran for the middle of their defense ever since they cut loose former starter Christian Kirksey back in February. While the position group returns two promising second-years in Krys Barnes and Kamal Martin, none of their seven inside linebackers have played more than 500 snaps on defense over their careers with Barnes the only one above 300.
Green Bay did manage to add one new ‘backer, Isaiah McDuffie, in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL draft, but Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst indicated after the final round that the team had originally been looking to take one earlier and would continue to evaluate possible free-agent additions throughout the offseason.
“Inside ‘backer was obviously one of those things that we were hoping to address maybe earlier in the draft. It just didn’t happen to fall that way for us,” Gutekunst said on May 1. “As we move forward, I’ve talked a lot about roster-building being 365 days a year, so we’ll continue to look at that.”
Though nothing is official until Campbell passes his physical and puts pen to paper, the Packers should be gaining a major asset for the weakest position on their defense and a healthy one at that. Unlike Kirksey, who has missed 28 games over the past three years, Campbell has played every game in four consecutive seasons and not missed time since his 2016 rookie year — when he missed four games with an ankle injury and one with a concussion.
Would Campbell Take Over Starting Role?
How the Packers plan to use Campbell could become clear once he signs his contract and the details are made available. He signed a one-year deal worth up to $8.5 million with the Cardinals in 2020 and wouldn’t likely be playing second fiddle to younger guys if the Packers sign him for a similar amount of money.
The Packers are still high on Barnes and Martin after both contributed quality reps as rookies last season, but they won’t be forced to throw them both into the fire quite as often with an experienced veteran like Campbell in place to potentially head up the position. Especially in Barnes’ case, a slower-paced development in Year 2 could yield greater benefits for him down the line.
Barnes went from being an undrafted rookie who was left off the initial 53-man roster to a 10-game starter for the Packers who would have played more had he not spent a month on the reserve/COVID-19 list. While he showed natural instincts and swift closing speed and finished with 80 tackles — second-most behind Adrian Amos’ 83 — despite playing just 41% of defensive snaps, he had no choice but to learn much of his responsibilities on the fly while Martin and Kirksey both missed long stretches of the season.