In front of the podium on Wednesday in Allen Park, linebacker Jack Campbell shared his gratitude to the organization and to its fans after inking a four-year, $81 million contract extension with the Detroit Lions.
“For me, and I told Brad (Holmes) this, the No. 1 thing for me in this whole process is to remain a Lion because I want to be a part of this and want to be a part of this organization. Me and my wife absolutely love it here. The people have been so nice to us. It’s just been like home,” Campbell said.
Obviously, the dollar figure was a factor in the contract negotiations, but Campbell wanted to assist the franchise in locking up the rest of its core, too.
“Let’s be realistic here, like, I already have more than enough. So, for me, it was more about the principle of I just want to be in the elite category, because I feel like I’m an elite linebacker and that’s the way Brad saw it and that’s the way everyone upstairs saw it … I feel like, for me, I don’t need to be the highest paid,” Campbell said. “Even though the guys around the league would probably appreciate that because it bumps up everything. So, I’m sorry to them.
“But I just feel like for me, I knew what I wanted in this. I want to help the team in any way possible. Just to continue to keep the core together so, I mean, at the end of the day, I feel like it was fair for the team and I’m more than happy with everything that they blessed me with.”
As he has so far in his career, Campbell is focused on proving Holmes and the Lions’ leadership right.
“When I got drafted on draft night. I remember everything. I remember a lot of things that were said. A guy from my hometown mailed me a letter. I still have it today,” Campbell said. “Just the CBS Sports article, just talking about how like this is probably the worst pick in the NFL history. And, I was like, ‘For sure.’
“So, I mean all that stuff, it wasn’t about proving them wrong. I feel like, for me, it was proving the people who believed in me right. And that started back at Iowa, coming out of high school when I had Iowa and Iowa State who even wanted to recruit me. And at the end, Minnesota offered me. So, it’s just something I feel like I carried along my whole life, so it was really nothing new. I knew the type of player I was going to be.”
Campbell enjoyed a breakout 2025 campaign where he led the Lions with 176 tackles en route to first-team All-Pro honors. The 6-foot-5, 246-pound linebacker added nine tackles for loss, five sacks and four passes defended in 2025, too.
With his contract extension ironed out, Campbell’s full focus is on the Lions returning to Super Bowl contention.
“For them to have that belief in me, I mean it only makes me more motivated because I know that I’ll be a part of something special in the future,” Campbell said. “I don’t really look in the past quite a bit, like this whole career I don’t really look back, but it’s been some special teams that have come through here and we need to continue to keep that up.”
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This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Linebacker Jack Campbell talks Detroit Lions contract extension
Reporting by Scout Springgate, Lions Wire / Lions Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
