With four weeks under our belt, the NFL season is in full swing. This means that injuries pile up, underperformances lead to cuts, and teams find ways to add to their rosters to fix their concerns. Free agents continue to get picked up as team needs emerge, but there are still plenty of veterans who remain unsigned. Among them is one significant former Green Bay Packer: De'Vondre Campbell.
For Packers fans who have been paying close attention to Campbell's career, both while he was in Green Bay and after, this may not come as a major surprise. The veteran linebacker has worn out his welcome both in Titletown and in San Francisco, where he joined after getting released by the Packers.
Ex-Packer Devondre Campbell Is Still Unsigned in Free Agency
Campbell's first season with the Packers, where he was a dominant game-wrecker that earned All-Pro honors, now seems like a lifetime ago. In fact, it was only 2021 when he looked like a true difference-maker, earning himself a five-year, $50 million extension. Things went south very quickly after that, resulting in Campbell getting released after the 2023 season, with three more years left on his deal.
Upon his exit from Green Bay, Campbell started going off on the Packers, blaming the organization for "making him lose [his] love for the game", misusing and mistreating him. This came on the heels of him declaring that he was never going to play through injuries for the Packers during the 2023 regular season.
That's why it was not a surprise when Packers fans saw Campbell refusing to enter the game for the 49ers last season. Protesting his demotion from earlier in the season, the veteran linebacker threw a tantrum when he was asked to enter the game after injuries to Dre Greenlaw and Dee Winters. Instead, Campbell went to the locker room, drawing ire from the coaching staff, teammates, and fans, before getting suspended for the remainder of the season.
With this type of track record, can you blame any team for not taking a chance on Campbell?
There are certainly teams in the NFL who are very willing to look past serious issues when signing players. It's a possibility that a team will get desperate enough in the upcoming weeks to give the polarizing former Packer another chance. At this stage of his career, however, it's difficult to imagine the 32-year-old defender will be worth the headache.