Ravens are signing a 40-year-old defensive lineman to play his 19th NFL season and it is awesome

Calais Campbell is timeless. And to prove it, on Thursday he agreed to a one-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens that will make 2026 his 19th NFL season.

That's not the most impressive part.

This is: The guy's a defensive lineman.

He plays on both the edge and sometimes in the interior of the defensive line where multiple 300-pound offensive linemen in an ornery mood can double-team him. Or dive at his knees. Or grab him in unspeakable places.

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(Playing defensive line in the NFL is not for the faint of heart).

Campbell possess the ability to play on the edge on passing downs or when his team is in a certain front. The Ravens could also line up Campbell inside of their edge rushers such as Trey Hendrickson to force the opposing team to pick which accomplished pass rusher they wish to double-team.

And that inside rush, which would effectively turn Campbell into a part-time defensive tackle, would come from a guy who is 40 years old.

Forty!

He is probably one of the few NFL players who remembers Ice Cube as a member of N.W.A. and not only as an actor.

Maybe you're thinking, 40-year-old NFL players aren't exactly unique. Rare, but not unique.

That's true.

Tom Brady played until he was 45 years old in 2022.

Brett Favre and Drew Brees played until they were 41.

Adam Vinatieri and Morten Andersen both played until they were 47.

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Jerry Rice and Darrell Green played until they were 42.

Philip Rivers last season came out of retirement and played a handful of games at age 44.

But none of those guys were defensive linemen. Campbell, in fact, is about to become the oldest defensive lineman in the NFL.

You know who was the oldest defensive lineman in the NFL last season? Campbell at age 39.

Defensive linemen suffer perhaps the steepest aging curve of all the positions because of its rigors and susceptibility to injuries. So the expectation is Campbell won't be asked to contribute 70 snaps per game as younger players are, but instead will be limited to two dozen snaps or so per game.

This is nonetheless impressive and even surprising. Including to Campbell.

That's because last season as the games were winding down, Campbell was asked if it would be his final season.

"I'd be surprised if it wasn't," he said.

It wasn't.

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