Getty The Broncos are considered a landing spot for De'Vondre Campbell, according to one analyst.
The Denver Broncos could be a prospective landing spot for one of the top young linebackers in the game.
While the Broncos’ top objective entering the offseason will be to land a franchise quarterback — preferably Aaron Rodgers — they could land another All-Pro Green Bay Packers player.
According to Arjun Menon of Pro Football Focus, the Broncos are a projected landing spot for linebacker De’Vondre Campbell. The 28-year-old Campbell was named a First-team All-Pro selection during the 2021 campaign after posting a team-high 146 tackles.
Menon predicts a two-year, $18 million deal ($11.5 million guaranteed) for Campbell.
“Campbell revived his career in Green Bay even though he only signed his contract last June,” says Menon. “He recorded an 86.0 PFF grade — a career-high and the second-highest linebacker grade in the NFL this year. He was particularly effective in the run game, notching an 82.0 run defense grade while also missing only two tackles. He’d make sense in Denver, as it still plans to run another version of Fangio’s “two-high defense.” Since he had his best season in that scheme, it’d make sense to play in that again.”
Campbell Could Be Signed to Bargain Deal by Broncos
Campbell is actually coming off of a one-year, $2 million deal with the Packers in 2021. In other words, Green Bay received much more than what they paid for as Campbell surprisingly emerged as one of the elite linebackers in the game this past season.
According to Spotrac, Campbell’s market value is $6.2 million per season.
Considering the Broncos just hired former Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as head coach along with ex-Packers tight ends coach Justin Outten as the offensive coordinator, signing Campbell wouldn’t be much of a surprise.
It feels as if the Broncos could become the AFC version of the Packers, with speculation swirling that the Broncos could acquire Rodgers and possibly wide receiver Davante Adams.
The seventh-year Campbell obviously had a spectacular 2021 campaign, but there’s concern if he was just a one-hit wonder. Prior to this season, Campbell had never registered a defensive grade higher than 69.1, according to PFF. In fact, he registered grades of 49.0 in 2020, 50.1 in 2019 and 56.6 in 2018.
That’s why despite Campbell being at a prime age and coming off of a banner season, his market value is still low. And although he manned the middle linebacker position for the Packers in 2021, Campbell is capable of playing on the outside also.
If the Broncos can pair pass-rushing specialist Chubb with a dominant tackling machine in Campbell, the Broncos could have one of the best linebacker pairs in the league.
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Menon Projects Broncos to Sign Chandler Jones
Menon isn’t just predicting the Broncos will land Campbell, he’s also expecting Denver to land Arizona Cardinals pass-rushing specialist Chandler Jones.
“They are going to look at pass rushers, and they are going to look at getting pass rushers in any way they can, whether that’s in free agency or the draft,” says Menon. “They need a mismatch pass rusher opposite of Bradley Chubb.”
Jones had 10.5 sacks and 36 pressures in 15 games last season. According to PFF, he posted an 87.7 pass-rushing grade, the ninth-highest of any edge rusher in the league.
Adding Jones would help alleviate the loss of former Super Bowl MVP Von Miller, whom the Broncos traded to the Los Angeles Rams during the middle of last season.
Without any Pro Bowl players, the Broncos still registered the No. 3-ranked defensive unit in the league last season. Adding star players in Jones and Campbell to the mix will only make the Broncos even more dangerous, which could lead to more turnovers forced. Denver ranked just 21st in turnovers forced during the 2021 season.
With $39 million in available cap space entering the offseason, the Broncos could very well emerge as big winners in free agency.
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