This has not been an easy offseason for the Arizona Cardinals. Despite they decided to start over with a big change at head coach firing Kliff Kingsbury, it has all gone south since then for reasons that aren’t all related to football. The Budda Baker trade request is just another item in a long list of problems.
Arizona opted to hire former Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to lead their rebuild, but he will have a tough task ahead. Kyler Murray returning from an ACL injury is one thing that needs to be solved given the recent troubles.
Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill has been involved in a situation that won’t go away quickly. In all this crazy context, the possibility of DeAndre Hopkins being traded looks like a less important topic. Baker asking to leave the franchise added yet another fire to extinguish.
Budda Baker’s contract
The safety has been the most reliable player in the whole team. His presence is a big factor on the field, although his leadership is something that helps the franchise off the gridiron too. However, his contributions weren’t enough to make the Cardinals contenders almost at any point because of all the other weaknesses they had.
Baker has two years, 27.3 million dollars left in his contract. These figures split into 13.1M in 2023 and 14.2M in 2024, but that doesn’t match what the player wants. The key detail that stands out is that none of that money is guaranteed. If the Cardinals trade him before June 1st they would have a 7.55M dead cap and create 9.3M in cap space, according to Spotrac. In case he is dealt after that deadline the space saved would be 13.1M.
The highest paid safety in the NFL
The lack of results is something that he probably considers. Although he asked the team in February to make him the highest paid safety in the league, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. This report suggests he requested the Cardinals to give him another extension before the one he signed in 2020 even finishes. Contract structures are key components, but the most common way to rank salaries is by annual average value.
Top 10 highest paid safeties in the NFL by AAV
1- Derwin James, Los Angeles Chargers, $19,133,000
2- Minkah Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Steelers, $18,403,059
3- Jamal Adams, Seattle Seahawks, $17,645,000
4- Jessie Bates III, Atlanta Falcons, $16,005,000
5- Harrison Smith, Minnesota Vikings, $16,000,000
6- Justin Simmons, Denver Broncos, $15,250,000
7- Budda Baker, Arizona Cardinals, $14,750,000
8- Eddie Jackson, Chicago Bears, $14,600,000
9- Kevin Byard, Tennessee Titans, $14,100,000
10- Marcus Williams, Baltimore Ravens, $14,000,000
*Figures via Spotrac
