Calais Campbell may have a new role in Jimmy Lake’s defense if he chooses to stay in the NFL and rejoins the Calais Calais Campbell’s status as a defensive end with the Atlanta Falcons?
Atlanta Falcons.
For the 37-year-old who signed with the Falcons last offseason, retirement is a very real option, but so is free agency since, should he decide to play another season, his contract ends this offseason.
“We’re really looking at our current roster right now, which includes our whole staff. Regarding Calais Campbell’s expiring contract, the Falcons’ new defensive coordinator, Jimmy Lake, recently stated, “Just looking at the guys currently on the roster.” “Free agents will be our first focus, but those kinds of calls will come later.”
Even though the 16-year veteran’s career is coming to an end, his performance from the previous season shows he has more left in him. This may be helpful for a Falcons defensive that will see schematic changes under new coordinator Lake.
During his inaugural news conference, Lake announced that he plans to return Atlanta to a more traditional 3-4 basic scheme, like to the one that Dean Pees used before switching to a base 4-3 defense under Nielsen last season.
“It will definitely be a basic 3–4 but highly multiple as soon as teams go with 11 or less players,” Lake predicted. “We’re going to rely on all of our experience from over the years as well as some of the stuff that the 2023 defense did here as well. You could see us in a lot of different fronts with various coverages.”
What does this mean for the seasoned Campbell, then?
Campbell’s alignment will be slightly different as he will play more inside as a four-technique (inside shoulder of the tackle) rather than as a regular defensive end as he has in the past.
It’s possible that Campbell may be shifted about, so even though Lake stated that the Falcons will be “multiple,” it doesn’t imply that his days of losing steam are gone.
