Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell has been named the recipient of the 2025 Pro Butkus Award. The award, which is more known for the identical college honors, goes to the top linebacker in the NFL,
as voted on by Butkus Award Selection Committee—a selection of 51 voters from all ranks of football, including NFL front office members, scouts, and coaches.
“Jack Campbell embodies everything the Butkus Award represents,” the committee said in a statement (via Hawkeyesports.com). “His size, instincts and disciplined approach to the position allow him to control the middle of the field. He plays with authority, communicates at a high level, and consistently puts himself in position to make impactful plays. His rise this season reflects not just talent, but leadership and football character.”
Campbell’s 2025 season was a breakout for the third-year linebacker. He was named First-Team All Pro after tallying 176 tackles, nine tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.
“He’s extremely valuable,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said in December. “Right now, first of all he leads the team in amount of reps that he’s played for a season. He’s taken more reps than anybody on this team. He plays on kickoff for us and he’s an asset on kickoff and then everything you see on defense. He doesn’t come off the field, he’s our bell cow, green dot. And he does—and the guy is smart and he’s instinctive and he is snap-to-whistle all-out, all the time, in practice too. And he doesn’t take plays off, he doesn’t take days off, he goes after the football, he’s a ball guy. So, he’s invaluable.”
Interestingly, this is the second time Campbell has won the award. Back in 2022, he won the college version of the award after a standout year with the Iowa Hawkeyes. That season, Campbell posted 128 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
Campbell is heading into the fourth and final year of his rookie contract, although the Lions have an opportunity to exercise a fifth-year option worth a projected $16.4 million. The deadline to exercise that option is May 1. But the Lions may very well sign Campbell to a contract extension before then.
