Panthers-Cardinals Trade Proposal Would Cap Perfect Free Agency Window

The Carolina Panthers have just about aced this free agency window. They signed star free agents at the positions they needed most. They managed to trade Andy Dalton for a pick when he was clearly not going to stay on the team.

The draft remains, but the free agency window is closing soon. The Panthers probably won't spend anymore, but there are still things they can do between now and the draft. Most notably, they can do more trades.

Moving for one Arizona Cardinals superstar would be the ideal move now and it would cap an almost perfect few weeks for the upstart Panthers.

The Panthers should trade for Cardinals safety Budda Baker

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker (3) against the Los Angeles Rams | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Realistically, there's only one position that the Panthers still have a need to invest in: safety. They re-signed Nick Scott, but that starting safety position opposite Tre'von Moehrig needs more talent.

They can and probably will draft someone, likely Emmanuel McNeil-Warren or Dillon Thieneman. But they've managed to address every other need in free agency, thereby preventing them from being pigeonholed into one spot in the draft.

They can upgrade the safety spot, create full draft flexibility, and cap a near-perfect free agency period by trading for Budda Baker. The Arizona Cardinals are (or should be) rebuilding. Baker is their best asset to move for more draft capital.

He's under contract for two more years at $34 million guaranteed, which is fairly steep, but Baker is an excellent player. He's 30, but he hasn't started declining due to age yet. Now's the time to strike, and the Panthers should be all over it.

Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins (12) runs with the ball as Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Given his position (safety isn't as valuable), age, and contract price, the Panthers could get by without sending a first-round pick, which they'd probably balk at anyway. They can send a 2026 fourth-round pick, 2027 third-round pick, and 2027 fourth-round pick to get the job done.

The problem then becomes the salary. The Panthers spent a ton of money in free agency. Some creativity has helped them make it all work, but adding the $34 million over two years is not going to be easy.

They can restructure contracts in 2027, which they will, to fix some of the problem, but the 2026 cap hit of over $14 million is nothing to sneeze at. To clear that space up, the Panthers would have to make some tough choices.

Extending Damien Lewis would clear up $9.02 million, per Joe Person of The Athletic. Extending Tommy Tremble would save $3.42 million, but cutting him saves $4 million and doesn't put them on the hook for a mediocre tight end down the road (and it frees them up to draft Kenyon Sadiq).

Cutting Pat Jones, who seems expendable now, clears up another $4.75 million, and those three moves allow the Panthers to bring in Baker to transform the back end of their defense and really solidify themselves as a team to reckon with.