Report: Arizona Cardinals All-Pro Safety Budda Baker Asks for Trade
News 4/14/23
Three-time All-Pro safety Budda Baker has asked the Arizona Cardinals for a trade, ESPN reported Friday night.
Baker, who has made the Pro Bowl in five of his six NFL seasons, led the Cardinals with 111 combined tackles last season. He has had 98 or more tackles in the past five seasons and made seven interceptions during the past three.
Baker previously told the Cardinals in February that he either wanted to be traded or become the league's highest-paid safety. Baker is ninth among safeties in terms of total cash due in 2023 at roughly $13.1 million. Jessie Bates, who signed with the Atlanta Falcons last month, will make $23 million.
Baker's versatility as both a run and pass defender was a big reason he garnered a four-year, $59 million contract extension in 2020. Baker's cap hit of $16.8 million this season ranks sixth among safeties. Kevin Byard of the Tennessee Titans leads with $19.6 million. Baker's cap hit will escalate to almost $18 million next season. Those numbers will make him difficult for many potential trade partners to fit under their cap. The combined cash outlay in that timeframe is more than $27 million.
Baker was a second-round pick by Arizona in 2017.
Baker's request adds to a turbulent start to the new regime of general manager Monti Ossenfort and coach Jonathan Gannon. The defense has lost star defensive end J.J. Watt to retirement and ascending players such as cornerback Byron Murphy and Zach Allen to free agency.
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The news isn't much better on offense. The Cardinals will be without starting quarterback Kyler Murray, who sustained a season-ending knee injury last December, for most of the 2023 campaign, and No. 1 receiver DeAndre Hopkins has been rumored as one of the offseason's top trade targets.
Arizona holds the third overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, and six teams have reportedly inquired about trading for the choice. Ossenfort has made no secret that he would like to acquire more draft capital to rebuild a roster that has reached the playoffs once in the past seven years and has not won a playoff game since 2015.