How Broncos Could Make a Budda Baker Trade Work
It's fun to think about trades, particularly if you can acquire a player that improves your team. And given that the Denver Broncos have had other teams reportedly interested in their wide receivers, a report by SI.com's Albert Breer might have caught the attention of Broncos fans.
Breer speculated that the Broncos might be interested in Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker, who reportedly wants out of Arizona. Because former Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is now with the Broncos, Breer drew the connection between Baker and Joseph.
So if I’m, say, the Broncos, with Vance Joseph there, and I have a young receiver to spare for a team that might need one post–DeAndre Hopkins, would I think about it? I sure would.
Is such a trade realistic? Let's look at what would be involved.
First, Baker is due a $13 million base salary for 2023. The Broncos would have to account for a $13M cap charge in trading for him. Though Baker's 2023 cap hit is $16.9M, the Broncos would only take the base salary, not any pro-rated bonuses.
The Broncos are already at just $7M in cap space, though they would gain space by trading a receiver. However, how much space depends on the receiver in question.
Let's consider Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy, the two receivers most frequently mentioned as players other teams have inquired about.
Trading Jeudy at any point this offseason would free up just $2.6M in cap space. More space would be needed to allow the Broncos to acquire Baker without restructuring his contract or the contracts of other players.
Trading Sutton would free up more space, but because Sutton has two years left on his current deal, the amount of space freed differs based on whether he is traded before or after June 1.
If traded before June 1, the Broncos gain $6.8M in cap space, which would mean the Broncos have barely any cap space left. However, if Sutton is traded after June 1, they gain $14.4M in cap space because the Broncos can spread out dead money charges from pro-rated bonuses over two years.
If the Broncos were interested in Baker, they would need to wait until after June 1 and send Sutton to the Cardinals. Doing so puts the Broncos in a "break-even" situation regarding cap space and salary (Sutton is due $14M in base salary plus a $500K per-game roster bonus).
However, there's another thing to remember: Baker reportedly asked the Cardinals to make him the highest-paid safety in the NFL. If he's serious about that and isn't just telling his current team that because he wants out, the Broncos have to think twice before trading for him.
Bottom Line
For such a deal to make sense from the Broncos' perspective, it should be done as follows: A swap of Baker for Sutton after June 1, with him not getting a new contract. Otherwise, the Broncos shouldn't make the move.
While it's true that I suggested a restructure of Justin Simmons' contract when I put together my preparations for the offseason, that was before the Broncos made their offseason moves. Now that they've done so, the situation is different.
To be clear, I wouldn't say no to acquiring Baker, but it has to happen under the right conditions. Otherwise, as fun as it may be to think about acquiring Baker, Broncos fans shouldn't get their hopes up.
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