Cowboys Foe Moves Budda Baker - But Not In Rumored Trade

No, the Arizona Cardinals, who in Week 3 play host to the Dallas Cowboys, are not trading star safety Budda Baker. They have another concern now.

FRISCO - There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding what the Arizona Cardinals, who in Week 3 play host to the Dallas Cowboys, are doing with star safety Budda Baker.

There was some weekend media buzz that a trade was on the verge of happening, and why? Baker was a late add to the injury report with a hamstring injury and didn't play in the team's 31-28 loss to the New York Giants in Week 2. ... and that "late add'' created, in the imagination of some reporters, the idea that Budda was being stashed to avoid injury before being shipped off to the Philadelphia Eagles or the Cowboys or wherever.

But that speculation ignored what the coach said following the game.

"We've just got to evaluate him. He wasn't healthy enough to play today. I think he got nicked on Friday and we'll see as we go through next week here," Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said following the game.

And now we know: Baker, maybe the best player on the Arizona roster who in the offseason did issue a trade request following the Cardinals' refusal to give him a new deal, is being sidelined with an apparent actual injury.

The move isn't about trading him. They're moving him to IR due to what the team says is a hamstring problem. ... and so the 2-0 Cowboys, already massive favorites against the winless Cardinals, catch a break.

All the trade gossip ignores another factor, by the way: Baker did indeed have  his deal re-worked at the start of training camp, and that conflict seems to have been calmed.

Baker surely still harbors the desire to play for a contender, so with the NFL trade deadline slated for October 31, maybe a month from now the Arizona brass can revisit this ... just as the media gossips are certain to do.

But for now? Dallas was a 12-5-point favorite before this transaction ... with a chance for that number to bloat now.