Big Red
Well-known member
- Mar 16, 2019
- 1,355
- 0
Budda Baker is coming off a Pro Bowl season, he's developed into a leader of the defense, and now he has his future settled with the Arizona Cardinals.
The 2017 second-round pick, who had been scheduled to become a free agent after the season, agreed to a four-year contract extension Tuesday. The Cardinals did not announce financial terms, but multiple reports have Baker becoming the highest-paid safety in the NFL, and will get around $33 million in guarantees.
The deal was announced as Baker was joining his teammates for Tuesday's morning practice.
Baker's Pro Bowl last year was his first as a safety – he made the Pro Bowl as a rookie for special teams. Baker, 24, led NFL defensive backs with 147 tackles with seven tackles for loss, six passes defensed and six quarterback hits.
"Business aspect, I have a great agent … (and) I've kind of let him do anything on the contract situation," Baker said earlier in camp. "I've been focusing on football, focusing on getting this new team here together, trying to be a lot better than we have been the last few years. My focus has been on that, and if the contract comes, it comes."
Baker was one of a handful of contract situations the Cardinals have on their plate. Among the other Cardinals scheduled to be free agents after the season: cornerback Patrick Peterson, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, running back Kenyan Drake, defensive tackle Corey Peters, guard J.R. Sweezy, linebacker De'Vondre Campbell and kicker Zane Gonzalez.
The Cardinals also need to have linebacker Chandler Jones on their radar -- he is a free agent after the 2021 season -- and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who is seeking an upgraded contract despite having three years left on his deal.
Baker was named on the NFL Top 100 list for the first time this season, after a two-year stretch of establishing himself as one of the most physical safeties in the NFL (although Baker is still looking for his first career interception. He did notch one in the Pro Bowl.)
"I've been a very confident player, person my whole life," Baker said. "I kind of like to just show it on the field. Seeing me on the field is seeing my confidence, watching it on film going from A to B gives me confidence. It's definitely a cool thing to have players reach out and coaches reach out and say congratulations or been saying good things about me last season. But I hold myself to a very high standard each and every day, each and every week."
Baker is scheduled to speak about the contract extension later today.
Continue reading...