PFF Says Cardinals Need to Pay Budda Baker
The Arizona Cardinals don't have much left to do on their checklist ahead of the 2023 season.
Training camp is less than a month away, and the Cardinals have mostly shaped their roster ahead for trimming once that date comes ahead of the regular season.
Arizona will have a few housekeeping items to attend to before cleats touch the surface of State Farm Stadium - none bigger than the contract status of Budda Baker.
If you've been living under a rock (it's getting hot, who can blame you?), Baker demanded the Cardinals either make him the highest-paid safety in the league or trade him.
Baker (27 years old) has two years left on his deal with no guaranteed money. With the Cardinals in the beginning stages of their rebuild, he understands there needs to be a price to pay in order to have his All-Pro talents on the field.
Pro Football Focus says the Cardinals should absolutely pay Baker.
"After weeks of back-and-forth conversations between Baker and the new Cardinals regime, Baker requested a trade from the team that drafted him in the second round in 2017 as he seeks an extension that would place him near the top of the safety market," said Brad Spielberger.
"While the timing with the team’s direction certainly does not make sense, keeping a happy and motivated Baker in the fold could help general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon win over a new locker room and get back on track in 2024.
"Over Baker's first six seasons in the NFL, his 90.1 run-defense grade ranks seventh among safeties and his 40 tackles for loss or no gain rank fifth. Baker is the clear leader of this Cardinals team, and he just turned 27 years old. When he signed his extension in 2020 for $14.75 million per year, the safety market hadn't reached $15 million annually. But the following offseason, Jamal Adams pushed it to $17.5 million."
Baker was at the facility for the mandatory minicamp and is expected to again be present at training camp, even if he's doing the popular "hold-in" by working off to the side rather than team activities.
Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort said negotiations were going well between the organization and Baker's representatives - so it's reasonable to expect Baker back in Arizona for the foreseeable future.
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