CARDINALS S BUDDA BAKER REQUESTS TRADE, WANTS TO BE HIGHEST PAID SAFETY IN THE LEAGUE
Arizona Cardinals star safety Budda Baker has requested a trade, as per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
One of the leaders in the Cardinals locker room and a rock for Arizona’s young defense, Baker has made it clear to the organization that he’d like to be elsewhere in 2023. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Baker informed the Cardinals in February that he wanted to be traded or receive a new deal to make him the highest paid safety in the NFL.
Baker signed a four-year, $59 million extension with the Arizona Cardinals on August 25, 2020, a deal that at the time, made him the highest paid safety in the league at $14.75 million per year. That record has now been broken multiple times, with six other safeties now earning more money than Baker.
Denvers’ Justin Simmons ($15.25 million), Vikings’ Harrison Smith ($16 million), Falcons’ Jessie Bates ($16.005 million), Seahawks’ Jamal Adams ($17.5 million), Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick ($18.247 million), Chargers’ Derwin James ($19 million) all got big money extensions in the last two years, eclipsing what Baker is now due going into the third year of his four-year deal.
A unique ball player, Baker has lateral quickness, elite ball-hawking ability and stands out as one of the best young safeties in the league. The 27-year-old has made it to the Pro Bowl in five of the six years he’s been in the NFL, and now, it seems like Baker feels he has outplayed his 2020 extension.
Rumours that Baker might be unhappy in Arizona began to surface on the internet on Thursday after Cardinals reporter Bo Brack noticed Baker had changed his Twitter bio and removed the “AZ” that for a long time, had been a stamp on his bio.
Baker then followed up with a cryptic Michael Jordan gif that said: “That’s all I needed. That’s all I needed for him to do that and it became personal with me.”
An hour after news of his trade request went public, Baker tweeted to the Arizona Cardinals fans, saying: “Love you Cardinal fans!!!” The 2017 second-round pick put up 111 tackles (75 solo), seven passes defensed, and two interceptions in 15 games last year, a performance that earned him his fifth Pro Bowl selection.
If Arizona decides to test the trade market for Baker, they wouldn’t be short on interested parties. Baker is owed just $13.096 million and $14.2 million in non-guaranteed base salaries in 2023 & 2024, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. And with two years remaining on his deal, multiple teams would jump at the chance to acquire the two-time All-Pro safety.
With teams like the Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars looking to add All-Pro, veteran talent this offseason, the Arizona Cardinals might just be the right team to call in order to work out a deal for their star safety.
The Cardinals have the third overall pick in the draft and have been rumoured to be hoping to trade down in order to accumulate more draft picks. Arizona has eight picks going into the final two weeks before the draft and could add a few more for new General Manager Monti Ossenfort as the team seeks to retool ahead of 2023.
For a team that isn’t short on picks and interested in one of the draft’s best quarterbacks, like Las Vegas, for example, moving up might just be the way to go. If indeed there’s an added possibility of getting one of the league’s best defensive backs in the process, then such a proposition becomes that much more attractive.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
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