TEMPE, Ariz. — For Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker, this offseason has been very different from last year — and that’s a good thing for the six-time Pro Bowler.
Baker was an active participant on and off the field throughout OTAs and minicamp this spring. It’s a significant difference from last year when he didn’t attend the voluntary portion of the Cardinals’ offseason program or mandatory minicamp as details of a reworked contract were ironed out.
“It’s great to be here,” Baker said. “We have a lot of different players, so just understanding what they like, what they don’t like and just trying to help as much as I can with football knowledge with the young guys.”
It was last April when Baker asked for a trade, setting in motion a set of negotiations that ultimately didn’t get him what he wanted: a new deal that would have made him the highest paid safety in the NFL or traded. Instead, he received a $300,000 signing bonus and was eligible to earn up to $2.4 million in bonuses and incentives.
This year, he’s set to enter the last season of a four-year contract worth $59 million that he signed in 2020 and will earn a base salary of $14.2 million — the second-highest base salary among safeties behind Minkah Fitzpatrick of the Pittsburgh Steelers — and can earn a $400,000 workout bonus and $500,000 in additional bonuses.
“My mindset is the same each and every year,” Baker said. “A lot of people think about the money. Some players might think, ‘Oh, contract year, I got to do extra. I got to do this.’ I treat every single year like a contract year.
“For me, I love this game. I play it at a high level each and every week because of the work I put in each and every week. And, for me, I’m an honest believer in just controlling what I can control and do my job. At the end of the day, everything else will take care of itself.”
After having more money added to his contract, Baker spent last season showing how valuable and indispensable he was to Arizona’s young, inexperienced defense. After missing Weeks 2 through 6 of action with a hamstring injury, he ended the season ranked second among Cardinals defenders in total tackles (87) en route to a Pro Bowl selection.
Entering his eighth season, Baker said he wants to stay in Arizona, the team that drafted him in the second round in 2017, beyond this season. Although he understands the politics of the NFL, pointing out head coach in Jonathan Gannon and general manager in Monti Ossenfort are now in charge. Baker made sure to mention he’s on his fourth coaching staff in Arizona and each has kept him around.
“It shows what type of character I have and what type of work ethic I put onto the field,” Baker said. “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
“So, of course I want to be a Cardinal, but at the end of the day, I understand it’s a business.”
In a lost season that saw the Cardinals go 4-13, Baker, who started 12 games, was a steadying influence.
“Big leader,” fellow safety Jalen Thompson said. “I feel like he’s a leader. Kind of gets everybody going. When the energy is down, it’s low, he’s the guy that’s getting everybody up. He’s just one of those guys that does everything right.
“When the younger guys looking at a guy like that, they wanna do it.”
Cornerback Kei’Trel Clark, a rookie last season, watched how Baker, the second-longest tenured Cardinal, prepared, studied and absorbed the playbook during the week. He also saw how Baker had a short memory on bad plays and would move on quickly. Clark said he took some of what he learned from Baker and implemented it into his own game.
For the first time in his career last season, Baker said teams didn’t throw his way on purpose; he was the closest defender on 18 targets last season, the fewest of his career and the first time in his career he was thrown at less than 30 times, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Although he allowed nine catches and 215 yards — both career bests — Baker was frustrated last season. And it didn’t matter how the Cardinals’ defensive brain trust used him, teams still stayed away.
“I miss it a lot,” Baker said. “But, at the end of the day, I know that our coaches understand that there’s certain schemes that we can do to force offenses, we can dictate it in a type of sense.”
While last season was trying for Baker, he had to be patient — to a point.
He knew and accepted mistakes were bound to happen from his younger teammates. If they made the same mistake a second time, “It’s like, alright now.” But if they made the same mistake a third time, then, Baker said, “I might go off on you.”
Having Baker on the field, ultimately, helps make life “a lot easier” for the defense, Thompson said.
Heading into his final season under contract, Baker is bullish with this year’s defense. He can feel the momentum of last year’s finish carrying over, describing what’s brewing in Arizona as “something special.”
And on defense, that’s spearheaded by him.
“He’s another coach on the field, honestly, and in the meeting rooms,” Gannon said. “But I think the value I see with Budda is you’re in a DB meeting and you show him a play and [he says], … ‘Hey, I want to make sure that you’re thinking this because this is what I’m going to do on this play.’
“So, it’s good to have those guys … I think it accelerates learning.”