After quite a bit of speculation, two-time First-Team All-Pro safety Budda Baker formally requested a trade from the Arizona Cardinals on Friday evening, per multiple reports.
It wasn’t exactly surprising. Prior to the news of his request breaking, Baker had hinted at potential frustrations with his situation in Arizona through social media. He apparently removed references to the team from his Twitter account, and he also changed his profile picture, which was previously a picture of him in a Cardinals uniform.
That wasn’t the only indication that Baker was looking for a change in location, however. He also intimated potential grievances with the team in a Twitter post on Thursday night.
— Budda Baker (@Buddabaker3) April 13, 2023
Baker’s dissatisfaction with his situation is not a particularly new development. At the Pro Bowl in February, he publicly criticized the team’s lack of preparation in 2022.
Around the same time, he privately told the team that he either wanted to be traded or receive a new deal that would make him the highest-paid safety in the NFL, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Cardinals apparently did not opt for the latter.
Baker was drafted by Arizona in the second round back in 2017, and he signed a four-year extension worth a total of $59 million in 2020. Per Spotrac, any team that acquires him would owe him $13.096 million in 2023 and $14.2 million in 2024.
While he wouldn’t exactly come cheap, and Arizona would likely require quite a bit of inducement to trade him, he is also one of the best safeties in the NFL and is still easily in his prime at just 27.
In addition to Baker’s First-Team All-Pro honors, he also was a Second-Team All-Pro selection in 2021 and has made five Pro Bowls in his career, including in each of the last four seasons.
Despite missing two games in 2022, he finished the year with 111 total tackles, seven pass deflections and two interceptions.
It’s still unclear if Arizona intends to trade him (or how Baker would respond if it doesn’t) but one thing is for certain: If Baker has indeed played his last snap as a Cardinal, someone is about to land an elite player in the secondary.
