The Buffalo Bills are preparing for the NFL Draft to find their stars of tomorrow. With prevailing needs across the front seven defensively, Bills Mafia is surely hoping that some of the draft class’s young defensive stars will land in Buffalo.
Still, the Bills don’t have a ton of ammo in this year’s draft, holding seven draft picks in total, five of which come after the first 125 selections. The franchise is strapped against the cap as well, so general manager Brandon Beane’s options to add to his roster are rather limited overall.
Still, the free agency pool offers valuable veteran experience at a reasonable price. Seeing as Buffalo is always a championship contender as long as Josh Allen is under center, one free agent defensive lineman might be hard-pressed to turn the Bills down if Beane comes calling.
Buffalo Bills could benefit from Calais Campbell’s presence in revamped defensive front
That brings us to Calais Campbell, an 18-year veteran defensive lineman who might have just enough left in the tank to help himself and the Bills finally snag a Super Bowl victory.Â
Of course, Campbell will turn 40 in September and is the league’s active leader in games started. He’s not going to be an every-down player for any team that signs him, let alone Buffalo. That’s suitable for him, seeing as he played just 46% of the Arizona Cardinals’ defensive snaps last season while playing on a one-year, $5.5 million contract.
Bleacher Report recently listed Campbell among seven other aging veterans still waiting for a new home on the open market who are worth a look ahead of the draft. For the Bills, Campbell makes sense for a few reasons.
First and foremost, Campbell’s massive frame at 6-foot-8, 315 pounds is still useful in plugging rushing lanes. He logged 43 tackles last season, nine of which were for a loss, which was on par with Deone Walker’s impressive rookie season. The Bills ranked 28th against the run last season and need all the help they can get in correcting it.
To that end, Campbell would bring some size to the Bills’ front. Bills fans have heard repeatedly how well new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard works with undersized defenders in the front seven, but that doesn’t mean he can’t use someone with behemoth-like size, such as Campbell.
On top of that, Campbell also racked up 6.5 sacks last season in the desert. While he isn’t nearly the pass-rushing threat he once was, Campbell has recorded at least five sacks in each of the past four seasons. Again, the Bills' pass rush was lacking in 2025, and while Bradley Chubb will likely do more in resolving that issue, having an interior pass-rushing threat to pair with Ed Oliver and Walker on early downs is not something the Bills should be turning their noses up at.
Of course, the veteran presence of a player like Campbell, who has played a ton of successful football in his career, is just as valuable. Campbell is a well-respected locker-room presence, and his familiarity with playing in 3-4 schemes for much of his career can assist with the scheme change taking place in Buffalo under Leonhard.Â
There’s an argument to be made about the team fit being just right for both parties, leaving just the financials to match up. Campbell played for $5.5 million in his second stint with the Cardinals last season, but just a $2 million deal to play in Miami the season prior. There’s likely a happy medium in there where Buffalo can comfortably bring in the veteran to give the defense a much-needed boost across multiple areas.Â
At the end of the day, it won’t be at all surprising if Campbell looks for a contender to join up with this offseason. He’s played in one Super Bowl, Super Bowl 43, which the Cardinals lost in a thriller to Pittsburgh. He hasn’t been back since, and the Bills are itching to get there themselves. Campbell hitching his wagon to the Mafia could be one of his best opportunities at getting back to the Big Game and adding a much-deserved championship ring to his list of accolades.