Trade For Calais Campbell Could Be Move Ravens Needed to Overtake the AFC

Over the past 25 years, the Baltimore Ravens have established themselves as one of the best-run organizations in the NFL. And thanks in no small part to moves by the Ravens front office like the trade up in the 2018 draft for Lamar Jackson, the Ravens had the best record in the league last season.

That 14-win season ended in disappointing fashion in the divisional round, but the Ravens appear to be gearing up for another deep playoff run. And after committing the NFL trade equivalent of grand larceny by acquiring Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell, the Ravens are in excellent position to challenge the Kansas City Chiefs for the top spot in the AFC.

As ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Sunday, the Ravens acquired the 33-year-old Campbell, who had 56 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 2019, from the Jacksonville Jaguars for a fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft. If that sounds cheap, consider this tweet from ESPN's Field Yates:

That's right. The Ravens picked up a five-time Pro Bowl defender in exchange for a pick they got for shipping their backup kicker to Minnesota.

Larceny, indeed.

Campbell's statistical production was actually down in 2019. His 56 tackles were his fewest since his last season with the Arizona Cardinals in 2016, and his 6.5 sacks were his fewest since the 2015 campaign. But as recently as 2018, Campbell hit 10.5 sacks and posted 72 total tackles—tied for the most in his career. The year before that, Campbell had 14.5 sacks and was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of America.

In addition to those five Pro Bowls, Campbell is a three-time All-Pro, including a first-team nod in 2017. He played both end and tackle in Jacksonville's 4-3 "Under" front, but he also has substantial experience playing in a 3-4 from his time with the Redbirds. As a matter of fact, there was a time (especially toward the end of his tenure in Arizona) when a pretty compelling argument could be made that there wasn't a better 3-4 end in the game. Campbell is a ferocious edge-setter and excellent pass-rusher who gets around the edge remarkably quickly for a 6'8", 300-pounder.

There's a reason the Jags threw a fat bag of cash at Campbell.

He also just so happens to be the reigning Walter Payton Man of the Year—Campbell is just as big a force off the field as on it.

After three seasons in Duval County, Campbell was headed into the final season of the four-year, $60 million pact he signed with the Jaguars in 2017. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, the Ravens are already working toward a deal that will keep Campbell in town a bit longer:

That extension will do more than just put some extra cheese in Campbell's pocket. It will also afford at least a modicum of financial flexibility to a team that badly needs it as the Ravens face a number of difficult decisions on defense.

They have already placed the franchise tag on edge-rusher Matt Judon, who paced the team with 9.5 sacks last year. However, there has also been considerable speculation that Judon could be traded—largely because with less than $3 million in cap space (as of Sunday), according to Over the Cap, and players like inside linebackers Josh Bynes and Patrick Onwuasor, cornerback Jimmy Smith, defensive tackles Michael Pierce and Domato Peko and edge-rusher Pernell McPhee all about to become unrestricted free agents (just on defense), there just isn't enough cash to go around.

Not even close.

Some gaps can be filled in in this year's draft, but the Baltimore defense is going to look different than last year's fourth-ranked unit. If Campbell's addition doesn't make the defense better in totality (and it may well), it's at the very least an insurance policy against the Baltimore defense backsliding in 2020.

That's massively important. And to see why, we need look no further than the team that lifted the Lombardi Trophy for winning Super Bowl LIV.

Two years ago, the Kansas City Chiefs were an offensive juggernaut led by the league's MVP under center in Patrick Mahomes. But as good as that offense was, the defense was equally bad. Against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, that 31st-ranked defense couldn't get a stop in overtime. And the Chiefs were sent packing as a result.

In the 2019 offseason, the Chiefs took steps to shore up that defense, trading for edge-rusher Frank Clark, signing safety Tyrann Mathieu and adding a new defensive coordinator in Steve Spagnuolo. Kansas City's new-look defense improved to 17th in the NFL—and the Chiefs won the Super Bowl.

That victory in Miami made the Chiefs the AFC's Joneses—and made Baltimore's mission in the offseason keeping up with (or passing) them.

Adding Campbell is a big step in the right direction. In quite a few respects, the Ravens and Chiefs are similar—in ways that go beyond the fact that the last two MVPs are the teams' starting quarterbacks. The offenses get the job done in different ways, but both were top five in scoring in 2019. Both teams possess top-10 pass defenses and potential weaknesses at inside linebacker.

John Raoux/Associated Press

But statistically speaking, the Ravens were better defensively in the regular season in 2019—Baltimore allowed 49 fewer yards and 1.6 fewer points per game last season.

Adding Campbell helps the Ravens maintain that edge.

Now, one trade doesn't guarantee that the Ravens will be spending February in Tampa. In addition to those defensive decisions that were mentioned earlier, the Ravens could stand to add more talent at wide receiver. The retirement of longtime stalwart Marshal Yanda leaves Baltimore with a sizable hole to fill at guard.

And as good as the Ravens may look on paper, last year's loss to the Titans in the postseason was a stark reminder that NFL games are not played on paper.

But for the draft-capital equivalent of a bag of Tostitos and a two-liter of Coke, the Ravens added a powerful run-stuffer and formidable pass-rusher who ranked 54th on last year's iteration of the "NFL 100."

It was yet another personnel coup from a franchise that has pulled them off with regularity in recent years.

And notice to the reigning AFC champions that their reign as kings of the conference could be a short one.