Report: Budda Baker requests trade from Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker has requested a trade, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport first reported. The five-time Pro Bowler still has two years left on his contract.

Baker has spent his entire career with the Cardinals, who drafted him in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Washington. He’s been a consistent starter since 2019 and is coming off his fourth straight Pro Bowl in 2022. He totaled 111 tackles and two interceptions in 15 games, missing the last two contests after suffering a fractured shoulder.

Baker’s biggest season of his career came in 2019 when he had 147 tackles, including a career-high 104 solo stops, as he made his second career Pro Bowl. Over the last three seasons, he also has seven interceptions to his name.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter provided more context into Baker’s trade request. He reported Baker told the Cardinals in February he either wanted to be traded or a new deal that would make him the highest-paid safety in the game.

After news broke of his trade request, Baker took to Twitter and posted a GIF of Michael Jordan in The Last Dance talking about things becoming personal.

pic.twitter.com/gPg8P95Tmp

— Budda Baker (@Buddabaker3) April 13, 2023

Baker has been one of the leaders of the Arizona defense, and if he ends up getting traded, it’d be yet another major loss for the Cardinals in the locker room after defensive end J.J. Watt retired following the 2022 season.

Arizona is coming off a rough 2022 season, finishing with a 4-13 overall record that eventually led to the firing of Kliff Kingsbury. As if things weren’t bad enough, Kyler Murray suffered a torn ACL toward the end of the season, as well, meaning he might not be available to start the season.

Arizona currently holds the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. But that might not be the case come draft night, depending on what the team decides to do. The Cardinals’ front office has reportedly received calls about trading that pick.

Schefter said “at least six teams” have reached out to the Cardinals about a potential trade as it looks to be a quarterback-heavy top of the draft. They are said to be “mulling it over,” according to Schefter.

In ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest mock draft, he had four quarterbacks going in the first four picks. That includes a mock trade between Arizona and the Tennessee Titans, who move up to No. 3 to select former Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson with that pick.