Cardinals reach resolution with All-Pro safety

The benchmarks included here are unclear, but a compromise will keep Baker in the fold in Arizona for the time being. Baker’s 2020 extension (four years, $59M) had tied him to base salaries of $13.1M for 2023 and $14.2M for 2024. An updated report noted Baker was not demanding to be the NFL’s highest-paid safety — as he was when he signed this contract three summers ago — but the 27-year-old defender has sought a deal that would place him near the top of the market.

This disagreement also hinged on Baker’s desire to play for a contender. The Cards’ defensive leader relayed that desire to the team’s previous regime before the start of last season. At that point, Arizona was coming off a playoff berth and had extended Steve Keim, Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray the following offseason. After a 4-13 season, the organization is starting over. Key defensive pieces from last season — J.J. Watt, Zach Allen, Byron Murphy — are gone, and a new coaching staff and front office are in place. Signs point to a rebuild commencing in the desert. But the Cards clearly wanted to keep Baker in the fold.

A compromise here may not be enough to dissuade Baker from seeking a trade again, but for now, he will be a training camp participant with the team that drafted him.

The Cardinals have relied on Baker’s production and leadership for years and have continued to receive Pro Bowl-caliber play from the former second-round pick. Baker has started 83 games for the team. As Minkah Fitzpatrick, Derwin James and others have secured extensions, Baker’s has dropped in the position’s pecking order. The one-time position-record deal has slipped to seventh, with James’ record-setting AAV more than $4M higher than Baker’s ($14.75M). But standouts at just about every position see their deals leapfrogged as time passes. With two years remaining on Baker’s pact, the Cardinals agreed to a short-term solution rather than complete a full-on redo.

While the Cardinals have moved on from the above-referenced veteran defenders and released DeAndre Hopkins this offseason, they still employ their longstanding Baker-Jalen Thompsonsafety pair. James Conner, Zach Ertz, D.J. Humphries, Kelvin Beachum, Will Hernandez and Marquise Brown represent the veteran contingent on offense. Murray and Ertz are on the team’s active/PUP list, and the Pro Bowl quarterback may well miss time to start the season. But the Cards do have a number of veteran holdovers from the Keim-Kingsbury era set to debut with Jonathan Gannon and Monti Ossenfort. Baker sits at the top of that list and is now set for his seventh season with the franchise.