Dolphins will potentially release Calais Campbell to allow him to join a contender, the Lions are the very best place for him to land, what needs to happen to make this a reality

Here's one that you don't see very often. The Miami Dolphins and future hall of fame defensive tackle Calais Campbell may be potentially parting ways in the coming weeks if the Dolphins are unable to make the playoffs. If that happens, Campbell is looking to play for a contending team. 

There isn't a team out there that needs Campbell more than the Detroit Lions. The team just lost their starting defensive tackle Alim McNeill for the season and they could use someone who could come out and replace a crucial part of the Lions' defensive line. 

Campbell is still very good at his job despite being 38-years-old. He's one of the best to ever do it and right now he's having a phenomenal season in the middle. He has 32 pressures and four sacks. He also holds an 83.4 Pro Football Focus grade. That's higher than McNeill's 79.6 grade for what it's worth. 

There are some obstacles and hoops to jump through before this can become a reality. First, the Dolphins have to get eliminated from playoff contention. 

Right now the Dolphins have a 6% chance of making the playoffs per the New York Times playoff simulator. If Miami loses to the 49ers on Sunday and the Chargers beat the Broncos, then the Dolphins are officially eliminated from playoff contention.

Then the next step is that Campbell would have to clear waivers. This is the hardest part of this whole thing. The Lions have to somehow hope that they can get a claim, and no other team does. The Lions are almost at the bottom of the waiver wire. That means another playoff team has a chance to steal him, even if he doesn't want to go there. 

The one thing that could usually help here is that the claiming team has to take on the contract of the player and usually if it's more expensive that way. In Campbell's situation, this is a sweet deal. He's on a one-year deal and the claiming team would have to take on a little more than a million dollars. 

This would be a perfect situation for the Lions and it can happen, but right now it's one that has a small chance of happening. Just know this going into the next few weeks. 

If the Lions can get some luck to bounce their way and they can wind up with Campbell, it's a move that can make a whole world of difference for Detroit. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks.