Cardinals S Budda Baker wants to be paid fairly as he plans to attend training camp following trade request

Cardinals safety Budda Baker requested a trade in April, but without any traction in that direction attended the team’s mandatory minicamp in June and plans to be at training camp in July.

The five-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro hopes he’ll be doing so with a contract that pays him fairly for what he brings to the table, NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo reported Friday on Good Morning Football, per Baker’s agent, David Mulugheta.

In terms of what Baker feels is a fair price, Mulugheta told Garafolo he’s not asking to be “the highest-paid safety,” but instead desires an extension that proves the Cardinals see him as a “long-term part of their future plans.”

As it stands, Baker is the seventh-highest-paid safety on a per-year basis with an average annual salary of $14.75 million. That price tag stems from a four-year, $59 million extension he signed in 2020, which at the time did reset the market by making him the NFL’s highest-paid at his position.

But that pact is three years old now, and Baker’s two remaining years under contract have no guaranteed salary.

As for his place in Arizona, Baker is one of the most dynamic pieces on either side of a Cardinals team that is, at best, in retooling mode with quarterback Kyler Murray still rehabbing a torn ACL following a dismal 4-13 season.

He enters 2023 with the best PFF defensive grade (73.7) of any defender on the roster from 2022.

Six years into his NFL career, he has seven interceptions with 34 passes defensed, six forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and 650 tackles.

Should the Cardinals want him to keep accruing those numbers in Arizona for years to come, perhaps the offseason will conclude in a new deal. If not, Baker’s April request is still looming.