The Arizona Cardinals and star safety Budda Baker will head into Week 16 with a renewed outlook for their future after agreeing to terms Tuesday on a new contract extension.
Arizona re-signed Baker, 28, to a three-year deal reportedly worth $54 million, according to ESPN and NFL Network. The pact will keep the six-time Pro Bowler off the free-agent market this offseason and under contract through the 2027 season. The Cardinals (7-7) enter Week 16 third in the NFC West and one game behind first place.
After playing out much of his contract year without news of an extension, Baker, who’s currently second in the NFL in tackles, still managed to play his way to another big-money deal four years after signing a $59 million extension that made him the highest-paid safety in league history at the time. The highly skilled and versatile Baker has recorded 142 tackles (88 solo), two sacks and three passes defensed in 14 starts this season.
A second-round pick out of Washington in 2017, Baker has emerged as one of the league’s premier defensive players at his position while battling injuries on his way to earning his spot as a pivotal linchpin within the Cardinals secondary.
Baker set to anchor Arizona secondary for foreseeable future
Approaching free agency, Baker’s future has been a topic for most of this season. Would the Cardinals try to move him at the NFL trade deadline? Did the 28-year-old fit into the organization’s future plans? Baker pretty much answered those questions himself.
The Arizona safety has been good throughout his NFL career, but this season he’s played on a different level. Entering Sunday’s game at Carolina, Baker has 142 tackles, which trails only Indianapolis Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin (144).
While it’s never great for a safety to lead a defense in stops, it’s different for Baker. He’s all over the field, a defensive flash always near the ball. In Arizona’s Dec. 8 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Baker had 18 tackles.
With three regular-season games left, he’s five tackles from setting a career-high. His nine tackles for loss are already a career-best. Put simply, this is the best Baker we’ve seen: always a strong voice in the locker room, always the best example on the practice field. And, he has yet to slow down on Sundays. — Doug Haller, senior writer
(Photo: Jim Rassol / Imagn Images)
