The Arizona Cardinals have made Budda Baker the NFL’s highest-paid safety in agreeing to a four-year, $59 million contract extension.
Baker, 24, was selected by the Cardinals out of Washington with the 36th overall pick in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
Arizona is making 24-year-old, two-time, Pro-Bowl selection Budda Baker the highest-paid safety in the NFL history, giving him a four-year, $59 million contract extension ($14.75M average per year), sources tell ESPN.
Asked about the deal, agent @DavidMulugheta confirmed it.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 25, 2020
The safety has yet to intercept a pass as a professional, but he has defended 14 passes in his three-year career so far as well as make 323 tackles with 3.5 sacks.
With his skill set, Budda Baker backends a Cardinal defense that has talent at every level, but is still coming together under the Kliff Kingsbury regime.
Arizona utilizes Baker in a multitude of ways, as his stats exemplify, which makes Baker a great fit on the Cardinals – or any team – as more and more safeties play closer to the line of scrimmage, almost becoming a de facto linebacker.
Though there are signs the Cardinals may drop him back more in coverage in the years ahead. Last season, Baker was listed as a free safety, whereas in his first two seasons, he was a strong safety.
Not that there’s a dramatic difference between the two, but free safeties tend to play back a bit more. And last season, while Baker set a new career-high in tackles with 147, it was the first year of his pro career in which he failed to record a full sack (he had a half-sack).
