Calais Campbell Reveals When He First Wanted Cardinals Reunion
The Arizona Cardinals brought a familiar face in through free agency, though their interest was evident last year.
Calais Campbell, defensive lineman, speaks to the media about his return to the Arizona Cardinals after an eight-year absence during a press conference on April 10, 2025, in Phoenix, Ariz., at the Arizona Cardinals Training Facility. / Cheryl Evans/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals brought back a familiar face and fan favorite in defensive lineman Calais Campbell through free agency, a move that’s received some high praise despite Campbell’s age.
Campbell, currently 38, spent the first nine years of his career in the desert before stops with the Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins.
Now, one last dance is on the menu for Campbell and the Cardinals, who have had made some good memories together at State Farm Stadium previously – which is something Campbell fully plans on doing once more.
“It means a lot. Bringing back a lot of memories, that’s for sure. Even just walking through the building there’s just so many memories pouring out of me,” Campbell told reporters.
“This is where I got my start. This is the team that believed in me and gave me an opportunity to live out my dream. And here we are all these years later and they’re still believing me, still giving me opportunity to live out my dream.”
Campbell revealed he first thought about joining the Cardinals at last year’s trade deadline, where Arizona was one of a few teams trying to acquire him from Miami.
“I didn’t really start thinking about coming back officially, really let myself think about that, until last year at the trade deadline – they [Arizona] were one of the teams that were trying to trade for me,” said Campbell.
“I got it in my head like, ‘Dang, that would be cool to go back to Arizona.’ This offseason, a lot of teams were interested but when we got talking about all the different possibilities and stuff, this just kept coming up. … It just made a lot of sense. I’m really happy to be here.”
Campbell is entering his 18th season in the NFL but is still flashing some strong level of play along the defensive line.
More than anything, however, Campbell believes he can be a strong foundation for Arizona’s youth movement.
“When GM and decision makers are looking for me to come into a building, they know that I come with a lot of leadership capabilities and prestige that a lot of the young guys respect,” Campbell said.
Campbell’s signing checks all the boxes for Arizona.
