GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Only two seasons removed from his first-team All-Pro selection, Green Bay Packers linebacker De'Vondre Campbell is out of a job.
The Packers will release the veteran linebacker when the new league year opens Wednesday, a source confirmed to ESPN. It ends a three-year run with the team.
Campbell was set to make $10.75 million this season, including a $2.9 million roster bonus due this Friday. By cutting Campbell before then, the Packers are off the hook for that bonus and his entire 2024 compensation. If they designate him as a post-June 1 cut, they will save $10.57 million on this year's salary cap. If not, they will still save $2.6 million on the cap. His cap charge for this season would have been $14.2 million. Instead, he will count as $11.63 million in dead money (or $3.66 million if he's a post-June 1 cut).
There were still three years left on a five-year, $50 million contract Campbell signed March 14, 2022. At that point, he was coming off an All-Pro season in his first year with the Packers. He came to Green Bay on a one-year, $2 million deal that he signed in June 2021 after spending one season with the Arizona Cardinals.
After Campbell's highly productive season in 2021, the Packers signed him to the long-term deal. However, injuries limited his playing time and productions in each of the past two seasons. He missed 10 games combined in 2022 and 2023 because of knee and ankle injuries. Late last season, Campbell posted on social media that he would no longer play hurt. Coach Matt LaFleur gave him some time off from practice to help him "get his body back."
"He's missed some games and he's been battling through," LaFleur said at the time. "He's missed games this year. He's been on and off the injury report. Certainly, I think that comes with a lot of frustration when you don't feel you're at your best because of health reasons. So, we just think it's best at this time to kind of give him the week, and we'll see where we're at after this week."
Campbell refused to discuss his post at the time. He returned for the regular-season finale and played in both playoff games.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported the Packers' decision to release Campbell.
The Packers also are expected to make a decision on left tackle David Bakhtiari's future before free agency starts. Bakhtiari is coming off his fifth knee surgery since he tore an ACL on Dec. 31, 2020, and is likely to be released.