New Contract for Baker

Miami Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker has signed a three-year contract extension

Linebacker Jerome Baker is coming off a sneaky good season for the Miami Dolphins, and the team has made sure he's going to be around for a while.

The Dolphins have signed Baker to a three-year, $39 million contract extension, according to multiple reports quoting agent Drew Rosenhaus, with the deal including more than $28 million guaranteed.

Baker was heading into the final year of the rookie contract he signed after being a third-round pick out of Ohio State in 2018.

Baker is scheduled to make $2.4 million in base salary this season.

In 2020, Baker was one of only two players in the entire NFL — along with Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White — to finish with at least 100 tackles and seven sacks.

Maybe the highlight of Baker's season was his remarkable 30-yard sack of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, which we recently unveiled in our countdown of the top 100 greatest plays in Dolphins history.

News of the extension comes two days after Baker addressed the media via Zoom while wearing a Dolphins bucket hat and spoke of his desire to stay in South Florida for a while.

“Oh, yeah. I want to play here for the rest of my career," Baker said. "I love it here. I love the fans. I love the organization. I love everybody here. Yeah, I definitely see myself playing here for a long time. Do you see the hat? Do you see the hat?”

With Shaq Lawson and Kyle Van Noy moved in the offseason, Baker's importance in the Dolphins front seven has only magnified and there's reason to think he'll get even better entering his fourth NFL season.

Baker's extension leaves fellow 2018 draft class members Mike Gesicki and Durham Smythe as well as Emmanuel Ogbah and Will Fuller V as prominent Dolphins players scheduled to become unrestricted free agents next offseason.

That 2018 draft class actually has to rank among the Dolphins' best in the last several years, behind only that of 2016.

In addition to the contributions of Baker, Gesicki and Smythe, the Dolphins also already have gotten great value from seventh-round pick Jason Sanders, who also got a contract extension this offseason.