Veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell signed with the Falcons last week and it sounds like their head coach Arthur Smith was a major reason why he wound up in Atlanta.
During a Monday conference call with reporters, Campbell said that the Falcons were not on his radar after he was released by the Ravens at the start of the new league year but that Smith’s “win now” approach to the 2023 season helped persuade him about the prospect of joining the NFC South team. Campbell shared another area where he and his new head coach see eye to eye as well.
“Arthur Smith said he wanted a violent line and I can bring a lot of violence, that’s for sure,” Campbell said, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Campbell told reporters that he envisions himself playing about 60 percent of the defensive snaps in his 16th NFL season and that he expects to have a role similar to the one that Cam Jordan has played with the Saints in recent years. Falcons defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen was the co-defensive coordinator in New Orleans last year and he was the team’s defensive line coach since the 2017 season.
