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| Campbell's new contract will keep him in Arizona through 2016. (Getty Images) |
The Arizona Cardinals have signed defensive end Calais Campbell to a five-year contract through 2016, the team's website reported Thursday. According to NFL Network's Jason La Canfora, Campbell will make $55 million, with $36 million due the first three years of the deal.
The 2008 second-round pick out of the University of Miami started 46 of his last 48 games and has 159 tackles, 18 passes defended and 21 sacks in his career, including eight in 2011.
ProFootballFocus.com, which grades players based on every snap during an NFL season, had high praise for Campbell in February: "Only the 49ers’ Justin Smith graded higher among interior linemen. Campbell only had two games all season in which he did not log a defensive stop, had seven games of four or more, and his total of 47 were also highest for his position."
Campbell will continue to bookend a defensive line opposite Darnell Dockett on a unit that improved over the course of last season under new coordinator Ray Horton, formerly a Steelers assistant. According to Football Outsiders, the Cardinals ranked 18th (14th against the pass, 23rd against the run), up from 25th the year before (22nd and 30th, respectively).
In March, the Cardinals placed the franchise tag on Campbell, a designation that would've paid him roughly $10.6 million in 2012.
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