De’Vondre Campbell Criticizes Packers Coaches and Front Office in Outburst

De’Vondre Campbell is giving the true information about his departure from the Green Bay Packers this offseason, and also making a lot of criticisms against the coaches and front office.

Campbell expressed his thoughts in a public outburst on March 17, responding to fans’ comments and explaining from his perspective what went wrong with Joe Barry’s defense in 2023 and why the team let him go last week.

“I won’t allow incorrect information to be shared about me,” Campbell stated. “Throughout the year, I was trying to cover up for my teammates' mistakes because they were messing up coverages and run assignments.

The Packers released Campbell on March 13 with a post-June 1 designation, with three seasons remaining on the five-year, $50 million contract extension he signed in 2022. A few days later, he posted on his Instagram story stating that “someone is about to get a great football player that’s been badly misused,” and then he signed with San Francisco shortly after.

Now, Campbell has clarified that he is not attempting to criticize the Packers with his “badly misused” comment. He refers to the Packers as “the best organization I’ve ever been a part of at this point” and emphasizes that he is not upset or resentful with anyone.

“However, there are some coaches that I have completely lost respect for,” Campbell added.

De’Vondre Campbell Held Private Meeting With Matt LaFleur

Campbell did not mention any coaches by name in his numerous posts, but it was evident that he had an issue with former defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s strategy and some of the guidance from his defensive assistants in the last two years.

“If I had listened to half of the things they were telling me, I would have never become all pro,” Campbell stated. “Throughout the year, all I heard was ‘Can you do this? It’ll help the strategy.’ I kept refusing all year, and look what happened. First Team All-Pro.

“Moving on to [the] 2022 [and] 2023 seasons, I attempted to be a team player and play within the system and do what they asked. ‘Be more focused on the quarterback and don’t watch the routes.’ ‘Step back from the line of scrimmage so I’m not directly covering every wide receiver or tight end.’ Look what happened. They made me and Quay [Walker] look clueless, shaking my head.”

Packers fans are well aware that Barry’s strategy had numerous issues. His defense allowed at least 23 points per game during the team’s 1-7 stretch from Week 5 to 12 in the 2023 season. While the unit did improve towards the end, Campbell acknowledges that his own input partly helped steer them in the right direction.

“Do you want to know why we performed better???” Campbell asked. “Because I started meeting privately with Matt [LaFleur] and telling him we needed to be more aggressive. We needed more man coverage and we needed to blitz more, and what happened when they listened to me? WE PERFORMED WELL AND WON. IT’S NO COINCIDENCE.”

Packers Did Not Request De’Vondre Campbell to Accept a Reduced Salary

The majority of Campbell’s outburst focused on his issues with the defensive strategy and the instructions from unnamed coaches. However, he did take a slight jab at the Packers’ front office for not attempting to retain him for the 2024 season.

The Packers chose to let go of Campbell and save about $10.57 million in cap money instead of trying to keep the former All-Pro linebacker on their team for next season. They probably think that the emergence of Isaiah McDuffie and the continued improvement of Walker — who was a first-round pick in 2022 — gives them plenty of depth. Isaiah McDuffie and Walker are offering the Packers plenty from a depth perspective.

However, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst told reporters on February 1 that he would “love” to have Campbell back for the 2024 season. But Campbell says the team made no effort to keep him and didn't even talk to him about taking less money.

“The organization didn’t even call me to ask if I wanted to take a pay cut,” Campbell said when asked why he liked a tweet about how the Packers are “the worst team” based on how they treat players on their way out. “They just released me after going in the media and saying me and Aaron Jones were apart [sic] of the future plans. They could’ve just told me the truth. I could easily be bitter, but I’m not.”