Budda Baker is now the highest-paid safety in NFL history. On Tuesday, the Cardinals agreed to a four-year, $59MM extension with their young standout defender (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). 
[RELATED: Cardinals To Sign Dre Kirkpatrick]
Baker’s deal includes a whopping $33.1MM guaranteed and comes out to an annual average of $14.75MM. Before the re-up, Baker was set to earn just $1.396MM in base pay in the walk year of his rookie deal. With that, Baker tops the previous watermark set by Bears safety Eddie Jackson, who signed a four-year, $58.4MM extension with the Bears earlier this year.
The 24-year-old has impressed across three pro seasons, though he has never intercepted a pass as a pro. He has, however, notched 323 tackles, 3.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, and 14 passes defensed in total. Last year, he registered 104 solo stops to lead the league. Baker appeared as a slot corner earlier in his career, but he’s clearly found a home as a safety.
With Baker, edge rusher Chandler Jones, cornerback Patrick Peterson, and versatile rookie linebacker Isaiah Simmons, the Cardinals boast one of the league’s most intriguing defenses. They’ll look to put it all together in 2020 and improve on their 5-10-1 mark from last year.
Baker’s deal has surely captured the attention of new Seahawks safety Jamal Adams. Adams has spent years lobbying for a market-setting contract and he’ll surely leapfrog Baker in 2021. For now, Adams has agreed to table the talks.
Wow congrats to Budda. I didn’t realize he was a top of the market type of player
The unfortunate fallout from this record setting extension is that it means the end of the line for Larry Fitzgerald as the Redbirds have maxed out their cap space and will need some relief.
You’re dumb
Arizona has enough salary cap space to sign Fitz in 2021
Isn’t Landon Collins deal worth more?
It is indeed worth more overall, but the annual value of this contract exceeds his deal
This reminds me of the Kenny Clark deal. Is Budda Baker the best safety in the league? No, but he’s very young and a critical component of Arizona’s defense. It was intelligent of the Cardinals to lock him up before Adams completely reshaped the safety market
Here’s how I know I’ve pretty much stopped paying attention to the NFL, I have never heard this name until today.
Same with George Kittle. Guys I never heard of until hearing someone declare that they are the best/highest paid at their position.
Wow how interesting
I find difficult to believe that you comment on a football site and have never heard the name “George Kittle”.
Most of the league’s obscure players can only land on the public’s radar by getting themselves arrested.