After requesting trade, Budda Baker addresses when he will show up for Cardinals

With two years left on his contract, Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker has requested a trade away from the team he’s spent his entire career with. But until either his deal runs out or the Cards wilt and trade him, Baker could very well remain in Arizona for the foreseeable future. In that scenario, new head coach Jonathan Gannon expects Baker will report to camp and join the team eventually, but he doesn’t know when.

“I think Budda will show up when he wants to show up,” Gannon said, via PHNX Sports “He’s been awesome. He kinda wears us out a little bit with the tape and different things like that. He’s working, he’ll get himself ready to play.”

Baker himself also confirmed that he’ll participate in the season regardless of whether he’s traded. He may not show up for a lot of the training camp, but when the preseason gets serious and the year is almost underway, Baker says to expect nothing less than his best on the field yet again.

“Oh yeah, of course I’ll be there when it’s time to be there,” Baker told Cameron Cox of 12Sports in his first public speaking engagement since the trade request. “When it’s time to be there, I’ll be there smiling and the same regular guy that I am.”

Amid the fallout of his trade request, Budda Baker said he’s still just focused on working to become as good a football player as he can.

“For me personally, I’m just letting the business aspect handle the business aspect, letting my agent handle all that type of stuff,” Baker told Cox. “I’m continuing to have tunnel vision on my work ethic, being the best person I can be outside of football and just enjoying life. Enjoying this offseason, enjoying working hard each and every day, and just excited to go back and play football again.”

Baker’s also recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered at the tail end of last season and claims he’s made it a point to have his body in better condition to hopefully avoid such setbacks this coming fall.

“This whole offseason I’ve been focused on getting stronger and getting built better,” Baker told Cox. “I hate missing games. Being angry and being mad about not getting to play. That pissed me off. I want to never have a situation like that happen again.”