Calais Campbell had been gone from the Cardinals for nearly as long as he had been around, so the gravelly-voiced defensive lineman's tour around the Dignity Health Training Facility on Thursday was as much about a trip down memory lane as it was him signing his one-year free-agent contract.
Before he signed the document to get him an 18th NFL season – and a 10th Cardinals season, separated by the last eight elsewhere – he thanked owner Michael Bidwill for still believing in him.
This moment was not something he thought he'd reach, with the Cardinals or otherwise.
"I love this game so much, I wake up and have to pinch myself, 'Is this real?'" Campbell said. "I still get to play football.
"But I feel like I'm still good at it, still dominant, and I feel I can help this team."
Despite years of a fanbase clamoring for him to return (and sometimes telling him to his face when he was in town), Campbell said he never really entertained the idea of a Cardinals Tenure Part II until the 2024 trade deadline.
Campbell was playing well for Miami, which had slipped in playoff contention. The Cardinals were one of the teams that wanted to trade for Campbell. He ultimately told the Dolphins he wanted to stay and help their flagging postseason hopes, but he couldn't shake the idea of returning.
"It got in my head, 'It would be kind of cool to go back to Arizona,'" Campbell said.
As a free agent, Campbell generated interest despite the fact he will turn 39 in September. But much of his family moved to the Valley when Campbell first played here, and have remained while he moved around the league.
He played three seasons in Jacksonville, three in Baltimore and one each in Atlanta and Miami, most long past the expiration date he once thought he had.
When Campbell was young, he wanted to play 15 seasons – what sound like an excellent career for a defensive lineman. By the time he reached Year 8, he thought he might only make 10 or 12.
"I am shocked I am still playing too," he said.
Campbell had five sacks a season ago playing in a rotation, with excellent run defense grades from Pro Football Focus. (He also had a career-high special teams snaps, another value rarely seen from a veteran like him.)
The Cardinals, with a defensive line that has Dalvin Tomlinson, Darius Robinson, Dante Stills, Justin Jones, Bilal Nichols and L.J. Collier is a perfect fit.
"I feel like I can change the ballgame. I just can't play 75 plays a game," Campbell said. "The first time around (with the Cardinals) I wouldn't come off the field except for a drive or two. Now, I can give you 35 quality plays. They will be Grade A plays."
Campbell smiled. "You start getting to 40 or 50, they'll still be good but you gotta be smart."
What he adds is much more for the $5 million in salary. He is a community giant – pun unintended despite his 6-foot-8 frame – that is beloved by the fanbase and past winner of the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
He also sees himself as a servant leader that can benefit not only Robinson and Stills in his room but other younger players on the roster.
"They know I come with a lot of leadership capabilities and prestige that young guys respect," Campbell said. "I don't take that lightly."
Year 18 could be Campbell's final one in the NFL, a beautiful bookend with his return to Arizona. But he won't commit to that.
He thought at the outset of 2024 that season was going to be his last, but here he is, playing well enough to continue. Maybe 2025 will prove to be the perfect ending, but perhaps not.
"I love the game so much and I'm still good at it, so it's like, why not?" Campbell said. "It's the best job in the world."
Another uncertainty is his uniform number. The No. 93 he has sported throughout his career – iconically with the Cardinals for those first nine seasons – is currently held by Jones, an eight-year veteran himself. Campbell said he hadn't yet had a conversation with Jones about the number, although the two do have a relationship after training together previously.
That's a talk for later, Campbell said. The voluntary workouts for players begin April 22, and there is time to figure out uniform numbers, locker spaces, and to mesh what he learns about the 2025 Cardinals with what he remembers from his nine years previous.
It will not be difficult.
"It feels like home," Campbell said.
