Details on Campbell’s new trade deadline…and how the Dolphins handled two veterans

That’s a pretty new twist added to the story of Calais Campbell and how close the Miami Dolphins came to dealing him at the trade deadline.

It was courtesy of his brother Jared, a comedian and former University of Miami defensive back, who appeared as a guest on comedian and Dolphins fan Mike Lenoci’s podcast.

While it had already been reported that the Dolphins rejected a 2026 fifth-round pick offer from the Baltimore Ravens for the veteran defensive lineman, Jared Campbell gave more details about the discussions that day as told to him by his brother.

“There was a bidding war,” he said, mentioning the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders, Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers and, of course, the Ravens as interested teams. “They had nine teams offering at least a sixth-round pick. … Then there was a bidding war, then teams offered a fifth: the 49ers and the Ravens. The (Dolphins) said, ‘Oh, we’ll go with the Ravens.’ You’re familiar with the team, they look good.’ And the 49ers came in at the last minute and said we were going to give him a fourth-round pick.”

Head coach Mike McDaniel later confirmed reports that he intervened late in the process to make it clear that he did not want the team to trade Campbell. even though the Dolphins were 2-6 at the time, because it would have been a sign to give up on the season.

“Yes, the compensation offer for his services was real, and I think it wasn’t like (general manager Chris Grier) was against me,” McDaniel said. “It was more about Chris seeing it the way I see it, or we working together, and I may or may not have had an adult tantrum. (laughter) That’s the tricky thing about Chris’ job is that he has to look at the short term and the long term at the same time, what’s best for the organization, and then we also depend on each other for the things that I need to be on. above, and one of them is the locker room and what an individual does for an entire team. I think it speaks to Calais because it was a great compensation for a guy who just passed the 30-year mark.

“He talks about how he’s playing. He talks about what it means to the team, that teams would be willing to do that, and there was some competition for that. But yeah, my job is to speak up for what’s best.” “For the 2024 Dolphins, I’m fortunate to work in an organization where the general manager and I can be transparent and work together, and he didn’t want to see any more adult tantrums.”

Forget that Campbell is just “passing the 30-year mark.” In fact, he turned 38 three months ago, although it’s hard to tell from the way he’s been playing.

Rather than looking like a player winding down his career, Campbell looks like someone who could return in 2025 and still be productive, although he has indicated he won’t make any decisions about his future until after this season.

Campbell made it clear he was chasing a ring when he signed a one-year deal with Miami in the offseason, and there’s a chance the Dolphins could waive him before the end of the regular season if they are mathematically eliminated from contention for the playoffs. to give him that opportunity.

“Calais was primed to be traded,” Jared Campbell said on the podcast. “They kind of made the decision at the last hour before they said, ‘Hey, give us that choice.’ Saying, ‘No, we’re not going to do this.’ Calais said, ‘Man, it made me feel love.’ Because if you turn down a fourth-round pick for a 38-year-old with an expiring contract, you really have to want me.’”

While the Dolphins want to do right by their players whenever possible, it’s also clear that they’re taking care of the organization first, as they should.

This was the same philosophy that was applied when The team declined to activate linebacker Shaquil Barrett off the Reserve/Retired list before the 4 pm ET deadline on Thanksgiving Day.

Technically, the Dolphins could still remove Barrett from that list, but that would mean giving up control of his rights, which they will have again in 2025 because his contract ends with a year on the Reserve/Retired list.

So, yeah, sure, the Dolphins could do Barrett a favor and waive him, but there’s certainly no benefit to them for 2025 or the rest of 2024 once they decided they’d rather stick with players who have been on the team. since the start of the season.

While it’s easy to empathize with Barrett, who lost a 2-year-old daughter in April 2023, it’s also fair to note that he signed a contract with Miami in March 2024 and walked away from the team four months later.

“Just talking to Chris about where our roster is and the players that have earned the right to be on it, it’s just a numbers game in the NFL, so I don’t think the timing was necessarily ideal,” McDaniel said afterward. the Green Bay game on Thanksgiving Day, two days after news broke that Barrett wanted out of retirement.

“We found out one day that I had a press conference with you, and it was more of that. It wasn’t about whether I wanted to play there or here. “I knew we had their contractual rights, so it was more about where we are, and let’s look at our roster.”