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Cardinals Re-Sign T Kelvin Beachum

April 4th, 2025 at 12:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

Kelvin Beachum will enjoy a rare opportunity to play an age-36 season as an offensive lineman. The veteran blocker will stay in Arizona to do so.

The Cardinals are keeping their swing tackle around, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter indicating the parties have agreed on another contract. Returning to a role behind Paris Johnson Jr. and Jonah Williams, Beachum will enter his sixth season with the Cards and 14th in the NFL. This is a one-year contract.

Despite joining the Cardinals in 2020, Beachum has now agreed to four contracts with the team. He signed a one-year deal in July 2020 and completed two-year re-ups to keep him in place through 2024. Although most members of the 2012 draft class have retired, the former seventh-round selection will continue his career. This comes after the Cardinals needed Beachum extensively last season.

Williams’ Week 1 knee injury kept him off the field for most of last season, while Johnson also missed three games. Beachum, who had come to Arizona as a starter opposite D.J. Humphries before being demoted, made 12 starts in 2024, playing 519 snaps at right tackle and 213 at LT. Beachum has started 62 games with the Cardinals and 161 for his career. He will continue to provide the Cards with some insurance, as Williams has dealt with knee trouble in recent years. Pro Football Focus graded Johnson 51st among 81 tackle regulars last season.

The Johnson draft choice moved Beachum out of the starting lineup, and while the team cut its veteran LT last year, Beachum stayed on the backup level thanks to Williams’ two-year, $30MM deal. The ex-Bengals first-rounder will attempt to justify the contract this season. He and Johnson represent the big-ticket investments along Arizona’s O-line, as midlevel contracts are present at two other spots (Hjalte Froholdt, Evan Brown) up front.

Beachum began his career with the Steelers, moving his way into a regular role as the team’s LT starter, before signing with the Jaguars as a free agent in 2016. He then played three Jets seasons, leading to an initial Cardinals signing in 2020. Beachum has spent more time in Arizona than anywhere else during his pro career, and he is now the team’s fourth-longest-tenured player — behind LS Aaron Brewer, Budda Baker and Kyler Murray. Although the team made HC and GM changes in 2023, it has continued to prioritize Beachum, who has signed two contracts during Monti Ossenfort‘s tenure.

Raiders To Extend QB Geno Smith

April 4th, 2025 at 11:10am CST by Sam Robinson

APRIL 4: Smith’s 2025 compensation will jump from $31MM to $40MM, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. The 2026 season includes a $26.5MM base salary; $18.5MM of that figure is already locked in. The remainder will shift from an injury to a full guarantee of the third day of the ’26 league year.

None of Smith’s salary for 2027 ($39.5MM) is locked in, a sign of the short-term nature of this commitment. $3.5MM in annual incentives bring the maximum value of the pact to $116.5MM, but with an out after the 2026 season (and perhaps earlier) it is highly unlikely Smith will approach that figure.

APRIL 3: The Raiders have a deal done with Geno Smith. They are giving the trade acquisition a two-year extension, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. This will keep the ex-Seahawks starter under contract through 2027.

It appears initial reports, like when Smith signed his 2023 Seahawks contract, featured a slight inflation. Smith’s Raiders deal will be worth $75MM, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Earlier reports indicated the deal checked in at $85.5MM, though Schefter indicates that represents the pact’s max value. Smith’s new contract will come with $66.5MM guaranteed, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz reports.

This represents a bridge deal for both parties, though Smith’s age may well make this his final starter-level contract. Set to turn 35 in October, Smith had angled for a deal north of $40MM per year. That aim prompted the Seahawks to trade their three-year starter rather than agree to his price. The Raiders, after being prepared to give Matthew Stafford a big guarantee in a trade, pounced and reunited him with Pete Carroll.

This marks Carroll’s second time signing off on a Smith starter-level contract, as he was in place as the Seahawks’ top decision-maker when they gave him a three-year, $75MM deal in 2023. That turned out to bring good value for the Seahawks, who held Smith to the deal even as he pushed for a new one in 2024. Although Smith could not quite reach that $40MM-per-year point during his Raiders talks, the reclamation project did secure a significant raise.

At $37.5MM per year, Smith again will come in with a lower-middle-class contract on a skyrocketing QB market. When Smith signed his $25MM-AAV deal in March 2023, the league had not seen the $50MM-per-year club form. It has now, with 10 passers comprising it. Smith only moves up a few spots on the QB salary list, and it is certainly no coincidence his new AAV matches Derek Carr‘s Saints number.

Though, it is notable the Raiders were only comfortable matching that — as Carr secured those terms when the cap resided at barely $224MM. It is now at $279.2MM, inviting questions about the Raiders’ commitment level. The Raiders were ready to give Stafford a deal that included at least $90MM guaranteed. The Rams standing down and retaining their starter forced the Raiders and Giants to look elsewhere, and both teams approved cheaper contracts to address their QB voids.

Rather than dive into the free agent QB market and enter a draft chock full of maligned passing prospects, the Raiders traded a third-round pick for Smith. They are catching the former second-rounder going into his 13th NFL season, but these terms align with Carroll’s stopgap coaching contract. The Raiders gave Carroll a three-year deal, one aimed at bringing stability to an organization that has lacked it for many years. We now have a timeline on the latest Carroll-Smith partnership, as this contract buys the AFC West club some time to find a true long-term option.

It also should not be viewed as a random occurrence that Smith’s deal surpasses Sam Darnold‘s new Seattle AAV, which is $33.5MM. The Seahawks have been out of the franchise-QB payment game since trading Russell Wilson to the Broncos, and rather than reunite with Wilson, Carroll chose Smith and now has him tied to the NFL’s 16th-highest QB contract. This should give the Raiders some flexibility, though it will be interesting to learn what the guarantee at signing is.

The Raiders gave Carr two franchise-QB-level extensions, the first (in 2017) setting an NFL record and the second (in 2022) being a clear bridge deal while the Josh McDaniels-led regime evaluated the fit. As the fit proved poor, the Raiders soon lost their QB stability by cutting Carr. They have moved on from their past two Week 1 starters — Jimmy Garoppolo, Gardner Minshew — via post-June 1 cuts. Smith will enter 2025 — barring a surprise first-round QB draft choice — on steadier ground compared to his two veteran predecessors in Vegas, though this contract length does invite questions beyond 2025.

New Raiders GM John Spytek said recently the Raiders want Smith as their starter for “years to come.” Smith may well have the inside track to be the Silver and Black’s starter in 2026 as well, but the Raiders figure to do more QB homework ahead of next year’s draft; as of now, that crop looks better than what the 2025 draft presents. Smith, however, will have a chance to keep his post-30 momentum going.

Although Smith bettered his Comeback Player of the Year completion rate (69.8, a number that led the league in 2022) by connecting on 70.4% of his throws last season, he threw 15 interceptions. Smith’s yards-per-attempt number (7.5) matched his 2022 breakthrough, but he was also working with a skill-position group better than what he inherits in Las Vegas. Brock Bowers delivered a historic tight end rookie season, but questions about for the Raiders at the other spots. How Spytek, Carroll and Tom Brady address the receiver position will play a key role in how their QB trade asset fares.

Prior to acquiring Carr, the Raiders carried an extensive history of late-career QB projects — from Carson Palmer to Rich Gannon to Jeff George to Jeff Hostetler to Jim Plunkett. While the Garoppolo swing and miss highlighted an overmatched regime, Carroll’s familiarity with Smith should help the Raiders pick up the pieces after a rough period.

Patriots Trading Joe Milton To Cowboys

April 3rd, 2025 at 10:19pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Patriots are trading quarterback Joe Milton to the Cowboys, per FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz.

Dallas will send one of its fifth-round compensatory picks in April’s draft to New England in exchange for Milton and a seventh-rounder, according to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. The Patriots received the 171st overall pick and the Cowboys now have the 217th overall pick, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.

Milton was a sixth-round pick in 2024 who spent his rookie year as the Patriots’ QB3 behind No. 3 pick Drake Maye and veteran Jacoby Brissett. The 6-foot-5, 246-pound Milton brings a rare set of physical tools, including an especially powerful arm. He impressed in his lone appearance last season, completing 22 of his 29 passes for 241 yards, one touchdown, and a 111.4 passer rating in Week 18 against the Bills.

That performance helped to generate some trade buzz surrounding Milton, which picked up after the Patriots signed Joshua Dobbs. Dobbs arrived in New England to take over Brissett’s role, keeping Milton third on the depth chart with little potential for playing time. Milton was not seen as “an ideal backup” for Maye, according to Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. The team even told Dobbs that they were looking to trade Milton in order to build their quarterback room around Maye and prioritize his development, per Breer.

Milton also wanted out of New England, seeing himself as a future starter and knowing he would have a better chance at seeing the field elsewhere, both in the short- and long-term. The Patriots granted permission for Milton to seek a trade, per Schultz, and the Cowboys “showed the most interest from the start.” The two teams had been negotiating for a few weeks before talks accelerated at league meetings in Florida, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer.

A number of other teams expressed interest in trading for Milton, according to Schultz, including the Raiders, Eagles, Giants, and Steelers. The Patriots had at least one better offer on the table, but worked with Milton to send him to his preferred landing spot in Dallas.

“My family grew up a Cowboys fan,” said Milton (via Schultz). “My mom always had a Cowboys shirt on. She always talked about them. Living in Texas has been a longtime dream of mine. And now I’m with them. I’m ready to work.”

Milton will arrive in Dallas as the presumptive backup to Dak Prescott. The Cowboys explored an extension with 2024 backup Trey Lance after Prescott went down last season, per Archer, but the former No. 3 pick remains a free agent. Dallas also had interest in Brissett and Drew Lock in free agency, according to Archer.

Milton has three years and $3.2MM remaining on his contract, per OverTheCap, while Brissett’s shorter, two-year deal with the Cardinals is worth three times as much. With Prescott still commanding the highest salary in the NFL, the Cowboys opted to trade for a young, cost-controlled with developmental upside over the next three years.

Cardinals, Trey McBride Agree On Record-Setting TE Extension

April 3rd, 2025 at 10:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

Trey McBride loomed as a Cardinals extension candidate, and the team will take care of this important business early. The sides are in agreement on a record-setting deal.

The Cardinals are giving McBride a four-year, $76M extension, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. This deal, which includes $43MM guaranteed, brings the tight end market to $19MM AAV. NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo had reported during an appearance with PHNX Sports a deal was close.

A gargantuan gap still exists between the wide receiver market and tight ends, one that has grown over the past several years, but McBride will become the league’s highest-paid TE by nearly $2MM per year. The Chiefs’ 2024 Travis Kelce raise had elevated the market to $17.1MM AAV; otherwise, no other tight end was attached to a deal that surpassed $16.5MM. While still arguably underpaid, tight ends have at least now approached $20MM-per-year territory. A once-TE-desperate team, which received a long-awaited boost via McBride, is authorizing it.

Between moving to Phoenix in 1988 and acquiring Zach Ertz in 2021, the Cardinals had never seen a tight end eclipse 570 receiving yards in a season. Eventual Cowboys Super Bowl winner Jay Novacek had held the franchise’s top Arizona-years TE yardage number (569) for 33 years prior to Ertz narrowly eclipsing it (574). Taking over for Ertz as the team’s top tight end midway through the 2023 season, McBride smashed through that ceiling by accumulating 825 yards. He became only the second tight end in team history — following St. Louis-years great Jackie Smith — to eclipse 1,000 yards in a season by reaching 1,146 last season.

A second-round pick during Steve Keim‘s final draft at the helm, McBride is 10 years younger than Kelce; the 25-year-old pass catcher represents a central part of the Cardinals’ passing attack, accompanying 2024 top-five pick Marvin Harrison Jr. as the team’s aerial cornerstones. Harrison is tied to a rookie-scale deal through at least 2026; that period will now overlap with the guarantees on McBride’s accord. Though, the Cardinals are likely eyeing a true long-term partnership with their long-awaited TE find.

Though establishing himself as a prolific receiving option in the desert, McBride only totaled five combined touchdowns from 2023-24. Drawing the ire of fantasy GMs, the Cardinals did not see a McBride TD occur until Week 17 last season. He added another in Week 18. The Colorado State alum had posted three 100-yard games, however, and his 111 receptions in 2024 sit second only to DeAndre Hopkins‘ 2020 total (115) in the Cardinals’ 100-plus-year history.

The NFL saw Rob Gronkowski‘s Patriots-friendly extension (six years, $54MM) gridlock the tight end market for most of the 2010s; it took until 2020 for a player at the position (Austin Hooper, interestingly enough) to reach $10.5MM per year. Kelce accepting Chiefs-friendly deals (in 2015 and 2020) also played a role in restricting this market while WR paydays soared.

Even during Gronk’s stranglehold on the market, receivers and tight ends were not nearly as far apart in value as they are today. Ja’Marr Chase‘s new Bengals deal more than doubles McBride’s, leaving the next wave of TEs with work to do. McBride’s contract closed a small portion of this gap, however, and it can still be argued — due to the fourth-year player’s importance in Arizona’s passing attack — this is a Cards-friendly agreement.

The Cards are still waiting for Kyler Murray to show the Pro Bowl-level form he did earlier in his career, but the team has two high-end weapons for the well-compensated passer to target. And Thursday’s agreement ensures no concerns will be in place about the duo’s status as long-term linchpins going into the Cardinals’ offseason program.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/3/25

April 3rd, 2025 at 8:24pm CST by Adam La Rose

Thursday’s minor moves:

Chicago Bears

Washington Commanders

  • Signed: DE T.J. Maguranyanga

Maguranyanga is the latest rugby player to join an NFL team as part of a bid to play football professionally. The 22-year-old is Zimbabwean and joins Washington via the International Player Pathway program. At 6-4 and 222 pounds, Maguranyanga will look to develop into a depth option along the edge, an area of need for the Commanders as the draft approaches.

Bears To Sign QB Case Keenum

April 3rd, 2025 at 5:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

Add another team to Case Keenum‘s extensive NFL ledger. The journeyman backup will be called upon to help mentor another highly drafted young talent.

The Bears are signing Keenum to a one-year deal worth up to $3MM, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. Keenum is coming off a season-long absence in 2024, but he helped mentor C.J. Stroud the year prior. Although Keenum is in his late 30s and coming off an injury-driven absence, he will bring a more proven Chicago backup compared to the team’s 2024 plan.

This will be team No. 8 (and NFL city No. 9) for Keenum, who has stopped through Houston, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Denver, Washington, Cleveland and Buffalo. Not viewed as a starter since a short bridge stay in Washington, Keenum has maintained residence as a capable backup. He worked as the QB2 for Stroud, Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield since his Washington one-and-done. Keenum, 37, joins a Bears team that had stationed Division II product Tyson Bagent as Caleb Williams‘ backup. He was also Justin Fields‘ top reserve in 2023.

Keenum’s career and value peak occurred during his Minnesota season. The former UDFA led the NFL in QB DVOA that season, guiding a Vikings team — one that lost Sam Bradford early — to a 13-3 season and a first-round bye. That campaign extended to the NFC championship game, thanks to Keenum and Stefon Diggs‘ Minneapolis Miracle connection, and catapulted Keenum onto the starter level. He received a two-year, $36MM Broncos deal in 2018, but Denver cut bait — amid a string of QB misses — after one season.

Keenum has since been traded twice (from Denver to Washington and Cleveland to Buffalo), and he drew trade interest before the 2023 deadline. The Texans opted to hang onto the older of their two backups, having given Keenum a two-year deal worth $6.25MM. Houston, however, needed to turn back to Davis Mills as Stroud’s top backup last year. Keenum sustained a foot injury in August, leading the Texans to place him on IR before setting their 53-man roster. That ensured the aging QB would miss the season, but he still attracted attention as a free agent.

For his career, Keenum has made 66 starts. Two of those came in Houston during the 2023 season. The first of which featured a 229-yard outing in a Texans overtime win over the Titans. The 13th-year vet has a 79:51 career TD-INT ratio and holds a 62.3% completion rate and a 6.8-yard average per pass. One season remains on Bagent’s rookie contract, though he can still be retained as an RFA in 2026, while two years are left on 2024 UDFA Austin Reed‘s. The younger two options may end up battling for the Bears’ QB3 gig, should Ben Johnson not make any additional moves at the position.

Bills, Christian Benford Agree On Extension

April 3rd, 2025 at 1:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

APRIL 3: Benford’s deal does not quite check in at $76MM, but rather $69MM, per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. The contract includes just $18.85MM at signing. While Benford’s updated AAV ($17.25MM) ranks 19th among cornerbacks, his full guarantee sits 24th at the position. Though, there are mechanisms in place for Buffalo’s top cover man to pick up more guarantees.

The Bills used option bonuses in this deal, helping to keep Benford’s cap numbers below $9MM until 2027, and the CB will see $4.29MM of his 2026 compensation shift from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee on Feb. 9, 2026. Additionally, $2.5MM of Benford’s 2027 base salary ($14.49MM) locks in on that date. The remaining $11.99MM becomes fully guaranteed on Day 5 of the 2026 league year in March. $3.16MM of Benford’s 2028 base salary ($15.24MM) is guaranteed for injury at signing; that represents his only post-2027 guarantee. Another $7MM is available via incentives and escalators.

MARCH 29: An offseason spree of Bills extensions will continue with a Christian Benford payday. Buffalo’s top cornerback is re-signing with the team on a four-year deal, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.

The Bills will lock down the former sixth-round pick for less than $20MM per year, with Schefter adding the contract checks in at $76MM in total. Benford’s deal follows those given to Khalil Shakir, Gregory Rousseau and Terrel Bernard, as the Bills are showing tremendous faith in the emerging standouts from their early-2020s drafts.

[RELATED: Bills Bring Back CB Dane Jackson]

Buffalo has convinced each of these performers to agree to four-year deals. Doing so as the salary cap continues to rise by more than $20MM annually could represent good business for the perennial AFC East champions. While James Cook remains an extension candidate, the team has taken care of the other core homegrown performers it wanted to extend this offseason.

Like Shakir and Bernard, Benford was entering a contract year as a player the team wanted to pay. The Bills will reward a player who had taken an unlikely route to becoming their No. 1 cornerback. Benford’s emergence helped bail the Bills out on their Kaiir Elam miss, with the former No. 185 overall pick usurping the ex-first-rounder and helping Buffalo cover for Tre’Davious White‘s injury trouble as well. While the Bills’ pattern of having key CB personnel unavailable for Chiefs playoffs games has persisted, Benford has still brought the team strong value on what amounted to a late-round flier.

In addition to coming from Round 6, Benford has become a Bills pillar after emerging from the Division I-FCS ranks. Playing at Villanova, Benford started five games as a rookie but turned into a full-timer in his second season. Starting 29 games over the past two years, Benford teamed with Rasul Douglas to give their Bills their post-White CB duo. White did not return from his Thanksgiving 2021 ACL tear for an entire year, and he was not the same upon coming back. White later went down for the season in October 2023, leading to the Douglas trade. Benford, however, grew into Buffalo’s top option on the outside in that time. Douglas remains in free agency, creating a need for the Bills, but the team locked down its younger perimeter starter.

The 2024 season brought more growth from Benford, who graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 6 overall corner. The 6-foot-1 defender allowed merely 5.4 yards per target last season, and his passer rating-against numbers have never surpassed 89.0. Yielding an 86.6 number last season, Benford intercepted two passes, forced two fumbles and notched 10 pass breakups for the second straight season.

Moving early on Benford makes sense, as he will not turn 25 until September, and finalizing this extension for less than $20MM AAV could age quite well for the team — especially after Derek Stingley Jr. just took the market to $30MM per year. As Sauce Gardner undoubtedly angles for a similar number, Benford’s $19MM AAV — if that is the deal’s true base value — checks in only 13th among corners.

Ill-timed Benford injuries have brought a key footnote in the Bills-Chiefs rivalry. After seeing Benford help Buffalo to regular-season wins over Kansas City in 2023 and ’24, the five-time reigning division champs did not have him available for the bulk of the two playoff matchups. Benford missed the Bills’ 2023 divisional-round Chiefs outing — a 27-24 Kansas City road win — due to a knee injury sustained in the wild-card round. Benford then suffered a concussion on a Baltimore onside-kick attempt to close a divisional-round win last season. He left the subsequent Kansas City outing early with a head injury. As the Chiefs picked on Elam — who has since been traded to the Cowboys — another Benford “what if?” loomed for the Bills after another three-point loss ensued.

The Bills will attempt to move past their persistent Missouri-based roadblock again in 2025, and they will have several well-paid young performers rostered upon doing so. While Cook’s contract now shifts to the forefront, the Bills have locked down their 2021 first-round pick (Rousseau) along with 2022 third- (Bernard), fifth- (Shakir) and sixth-round choices, doing so after giving Josh Allen a record-setting raise.

Chiefs To Reunite With S Mike Edwards

April 3rd, 2025 at 11:29am CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Chiefs are reuniting with veteran safety Mike Edwards on a one-year deal, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Edwards spent the 2023 season in Kansas City, appearing in all 17 games with a role that increased throughout the year. He started the last five games of the regular season and all four playoff matchups, which culminated in a Super Bowl LIII victory over the 49ers. Edwards also beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV as a member of the Buccaneers.

The six-year veteran signed with the Bills for the 2024 season, but could not win a starting safety job over Damar Hamlin. Edwards was on the trade block by the end of October, but no market materialized. Buffalo opted to released him before the trade deadline so he could avoid waivers and choose his next team.

Edwards briefly signed with the Titans but was waived before he could appear in any games in Tennessee. He was then claimed by the Buccaneers for the remainder of the season and appeared in five games with two starts.

Originally a third-round pick by the Buccaneers in 2019, Edwards started 23 games across his first four years in Tampa Bay. He has mostly lined up as a free safety in his career, though he has played in the box and out of the slot as well.

Edwards will likely take up a rotational role in Kansas City, who tried to re-sign Justin Reid before he agreed to terms with the Saints. The Chiefs’ safety room currently includes 2024 starter Bryan Cook, 2024 fourth-rounder Jaden Hicks, and veteran Deon Bush. The team could also use a pick on a strong draft class at the position later this month.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/2/25

April 2nd, 2025 at 8:23pm CST by Ben Levine

Just two minor moves to pass along:

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Signed: TE Jordan Petaia

New York Jets

Xavier Newman-Johnson was tagged as an exclusive rights free agent last month, so his return to New York was all but inevitable. A former UDFA, the lineman has spent the past year-plus with the Jets, including a 2023 campaign where he started four of his seven appearances.

Newman-Johnson didn’t have nearly as big of a role in 2024. After getting into 280 offensive snaps in 2023, he was limited to only 11 reps in 2024. However, he did garner 31 snaps on special teams this past season. The 25-year-old will likely be eyeing a similar role if he sticks on the roster for the 2025 season.

Jordan Petaia was signed by the Chargers via the NFL International Player Pathway program. A native of Melbourne, Petaia has appeared in a pair of Rugby World Cups, including a 2019 showing where he became the youngest Australian player to ever suit up in the event.

Cardinals Reunite With DL Calais Campbell

April 2nd, 2025 at 4:52pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

APRIL 2: The Dolphins offered Campbell the third-most money of the teams pursuing him, per Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald. The Ravens were also in the mix, but the Cardinals offered more bonus money and Campbell and his family preferred to return to Arizona.

APRIL 1: The Cardinals are signing six-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Calais Campbell to a one-year deal, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

The signing, which was confirmed by Cardinals team reporter Darren Urban, will bring Campbell back to the team that originally drafted him. The 38-year-old is set to earn $5.5MM in 2025 with an additional $2MM available via incentives, according to Schefter and Rapoport.

Campbell entered the offseason as an unrestricted free agent weighing retirement against a return to the field for his 18th season in the NFL. He had offers from the Dolphins and the Ravens, but chose to return to Arizona where he started his career as a second-round draft pick in 2008. All three options offered familiarity; Campbell spent his college career and the 2024 season in Miami, and he also played in Baltimore from 2020 to 2022. The Cardinals, however, are closer to Denver, where he was born and raised.

Campbell is the Cardinals’ second addition to their defensive line this offseason. They signed Dalvin Tomlinson in March to join Dante Stills and Bilal Nichols in the trenches. Campbell will give Arizona a four-man rotation to which they can still add via the draft.

Campbell’s departure leaves the Dolphins precariously thin along the interior of their defensive line. Zach Sieler and Benito Jones are the only returning starters from last year’s unit.. Neil Farrell and Matt Dickerson combined for just 11 appearances and 80 defensive snaps. That will likely force Miami to scour the league’s remaining free agents and invest in at least one defensive lineman in April’s draft, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

The new contract will bring Campbell’s career earnings over $150MM, per OverTheCap, the third-most of any defensive linemen in NFL history. He has remained an effective defender into his late-30s, with 17.0 sacks and 26 tackles for loss since 2022.

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