Once free agency officially begins, De’Vondre Campbell will see his Packers tenure come to an end. The veteran linebacker will be released on the first day of the new league year, Tom Sliverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
By waiting until the start of the league year, Green Bay will be able to designate Campbell a post-June 1 release. That route will yield just over $10.5M in savings, a far higher figure than if he were to be let go now.
However, the Packers will not see that added cap space until June 2. Moving on from Campbell will produce a dead money charge of $3.66M.
The 30-year-old had a late breakout during his debut campaign with the Packers. Playing on a one-year deal in 2021, he posted 146 tackles, two interceptions and a pair of sacks en route to receiving first-team All-Pro honors.
Campbell was rewarded with a five-year, $50M deal in 2022. Expectations went through the roof as a result, but the former fourth-rounder saw a downturn in production over the past two seasons. Still, his release will create the need for a new starter at the LB spot this offseason.
Campbell played through a shoulder injury in 2022, and he was limited to 11 games last year. Green Bay will be looking for more stability on the health front with an outside addition or the retention of an in-house replacement candidate.
Silverstein notes special teamer Eric Wilson is on the Packers’ list of players the team would like to re-sign. Wilson last saw a heavy defensive workload in 2020 with the Vikings, though, so he will likely retain his third phase responsibilities while Green Bay re-shapes its starting defense under new DC Jeff Haffley.
Kristian Welch (a fellow special teams ace) is a pending free agent like Wilson. As a result, the only sure thing at the LB spot for the time being is 2022 first-rounder Quay Walker. The Georgia alum has started all but one of his games in Green Bay to date, posting at least 118 tackles each season. He will be counted on heavily moving forward, but it will be interesting to see who he will be paired with in 2024.
The Packers presently have $13.6M in cap space, a figure which will grow well after the first few waves of free agency have taken place via Campbell’s release. It will be interesting to see how much of a market develops for him once he becomes available.
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