Calais Campbell should finish his career with the Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos are in need of help along the defensive front and though he's nowhere near as attractive a free agent as he was in 2017, Calais Campbell could still be a good signing for the team.

Recently, I came up with some players who could be priced low and could offer some good upside. Add Campbell to that as he could give the Broncos a tremendous veteran defensive presence.

Campbell will be overlooked by most teams because of his age. At 37 years old, his best football is definitely behind him. But even at that age, he is still effective. He had 6.5 sacks for the Atlanta Falcons last year.

Campell, who was born in Denver and played high school football there, would be a signing that fans would appreciate for that reason. And it almost happened back in 2017 before Campbell was lured away by more money from the Jacksonville Jaguars.

As Broncos ESPN reporter Jeff Legwold wrote in 2018, one year after that decision, the Broncos should have signed Campbell. Since playing three seasons with Jacksonville, Campbell had a three-year stint with the Baltimore Ravens before playing this past season in Atlanta.

Each time he has been a free agent, the Broncos have made sense for him, and each time, another team has signed him.

You can make the argument that the defensive line is the Broncos' worst position group currently, so signing Campbell to a one-year deal, even at this advanced stage of his career, won't hurt. He can come in and add a veteran presence to a team that has plenty of young defensive players who could sponge off of him. But more importantly, he could finish his career in the rightful place.

Perhaps that would be too much of a "feel good" story, but Campbell has shown he can still be productive. He has 105.5 career sacks, which puts him in a tie for No. 32 on the league's all-time list. He wouldn't cost an arm and a leg, either. And besides, the Broncos have room for a feel-good story, don't they?

Campbell would not be a guy to sign in wave one or perhaps even in wave two of the free-agent signing period. The team is going to have other slots to fill first. But as we get later into the spring and Campbell is still sitting there, providing he still wants to play, why not take a shot on him?

Campbell finishing his career with the Broncos, the team he grew up cheering for, even if he should have been with the team many years ago, would be a good thing. Who knows, maybe he would even be interested in a coaching gig with Denver once his playing career was over?

Take a shot, Broncos.