One of the best safeties that the NFL has to offer might be on the move very soon. Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker has recently told management that he would prefer to get traded. The trade demand comes as a massive surprise to not only Cardinals fans, but the rest of the league.
The 27-year-old apparently is looking for a new contract extension. He’s got two years left on a four-year, $59 million deal, but has non-guaranteed salaries throughout the remainder of this deal. One report claims that he would prefer to be the highest paid safety in the league, otherwise he would want to be granted his trade request.
Baker is one of the only bright spots in Arizona at the moment, so it’s no surprise that he would like to be paid for it. He’s been a huge leader throughout the locker room while also racking up his fourth 100-tackle season this past season. With so much going on with the Cardinals this past season, watching your star safety and locker room pillar requests a trade.
Budda Baker Was A Standout
On top of Baker, there’s a lot of other things that might be changing soon. The organization just hired Jonathan Gannon to replace the fired Kliff Kingsbury as the team’s head coach. Monti Ossenfort will be taking over as the general manager for the first time this year as well. Quarterback Kyler Murray is trying to recover from a torn ACL. And DeAndre Hopkins is almost guaranteed to be traded at some point in the near future.
Not to mention that there are currently cheating allegations against the Cardinals ownership. Allegations that are currently being looked into by the NFL. Budda Baker doesn’t want to be involved in what’s going on in Arizona unless he feels like he is being compensated for the talent he brings.
There’s Still Love
Don’t worry though, Baker isn’t making this request because he hates the fan base. He’s been very active on social media by posting a gif of Michaeel Jordan saying, “personal with me”. And then later took away the AZ abbreviation from his bio. When fans started to grow unhappy with his antics there, he made sure to write, “Love you Cardinal fans!”
If Baker does get traded, there is no telling how far down the Cardinals defense might fall. After all, JJ Watt just announced his retirement. Another pillar in that locker room. Arizona also just went 4-13 last season. With their defense giving up a ridiculous number of points, ranking 31st in the league in that category.
It’s certainly not a great time to be a Cardinals fan, and all you can hope for is that if Arizona follows through on this trade request, they are able to get back a significant haul for his services. Hopefully in the form of draft capital. Or young defensive players to try and build a competitive roster without fully rebuilding with a franchise quarterback on the roster.