Elijah Campbell has spent the last four seasons excelling on special teams with the Miami Dolphins. Now he’s hoping to do a little more.
“I’ve always had the talent,” the reserve safety told David Furones of the Sun Sentinel last week. “It’s just about getting more opportunity, so if that opportunity presents itself next year, I’m more than competent. I was just talking with coaches, like, I’m a starter. I have the ability to be a starter in the league, and I should be.”
Campbell, 29, has played sparingly on defense and logged 76 snaps at safety during the 2024 season. That pales in comparison to the 260 snaps he played on special teams, bringing his four-year total with that unit to 1,014 snaps.
With free agency a couple months off on the horizon for Campbell, the veteran may get a chance to see if there’s another team willing to give him a shot to start on defense. But fellow Dolphins safeties Jevón Holland and Jordan Poyer are also set to become free agents in March. That could make staying in Miami a logical move for Campbell.
“I have a good relationship with the Dolphins here,” Campbell told the Sun Sentinel. “So, obviously if I could stay here, I would like to. … If it’s right, I’ll stay here. I think they want me back, and I want to be back, but [the] contract will talk.”
Campbell, who first entered the NFL with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2018, didn’t make his regular season debut until 2020 while with the New York Jets. A year later, he was claimed off waivers by the Dolphins.
In four seasons with Miami, Campbell has recorded 40 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, one tackle for loss, and two passes defended.