Report: Budda Baker, Cardinals Have 'Realistic' Shot to Reach Contract Before NFL FA

ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler believes there is "a realistic chance" the Arizona Cardinals extend Budda Baker before the safety hits free agency next spring.

"Baker prioritizes winning, so if he believes he can win big in Arizona, staying there is a viable option," Fowler wrote on Wednesday. "The Cardinals have shown encouraging signs in recent weeks."

Baker requested a trade from the Cardinals in April 2023, which led the team to offer him raises for both the 2023 and 2024 seasons. The Cardinals will now have to "pay up" once more if they want to entice Baker to stay, Fowler noted.

A Pro Bowler in each of the last five seasons, Baker holds the NFL lead with 64 solo tackles through Week 10.

Baker's current contract ranks seventh among NFL safeties, per Over the Cap, with an average annual salary of $28.2 million. His base salary of $14.2 million for the 2024 trails only Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick for the positional lead.

Baker missed five games last season with a hamstring injury, but still earned a Pro Bowl nod as he finished the season second to only Jalen Thompson for the team lead with 58 total tackles.

This season, Baker became the first Cardinal to record 100 tackles in 10 games.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon said after the Cardinals' Week 10 win over the New York Jets, which marked the team's fourth straight victory after a slow 2-4 start to the season, that Baker was "one of the elite players in the world."

"He's explosive, fast, powerful. He can rush, he can play the run, takes the ball away. Really good player," Gannon said.

Baker indicated in July that he wanted to stick around with the Cardinals for a ninth season.

"No matter what, no matter who's there, who's coaching, I'm going to do my job and I'm going to be that person to other guys can look on, as well, and ask questions to, and all that other stuff as well," Baker said before the season (h/t ESPN's Josh Weinfuss.) "So, of course I want to be a Cardinal, but at the end of the day, I understand it's a business."

Baker is currently on pace to surpass his previous career-high total of 147 total tackles set during his second Pro Bowl season in 2019. Although his explosive defense could risk pricing him out of the Cardinals' budget in free agency, his key role in lifting Arizona to the top of the NFC West and giving the team a shot at the postseason led the Cards to stick with him at the trade deadline likely in the hopes of eventually working out an extension.