The Arizona Cardinals have agreed to terms on a four-year, $59 million contract extension for star safety Budda Baker, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The new deal makes Baker, 24, a two-time Pro Bowler, the highest-paid safety in NFL history, and will average $14.75 million annually.
The team officially announced the deal on Tuesday, but provided no further financial details. The Cardinals drafted Baker in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
“It’s definitely an exciting thing for me to be labeled [as the highest-paid safety in league history], to say that,” Baker said.
“It was a very cool experience and it’s a very cool experience right now. But, for me, I’m just trying to earn what I will make now. I’m labeled as this player and now I have to show out and continue to show out each and every week. And that’s my goals and my plans to do that.”
Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said the new deal “took so much time” because of uncertainty around next season’s salary cap.
“That’s going to be something we’re going to have to work through here in the future, knowing that we have to operate at a certain number,” Keim said. “But, Budda was at the top of our list and we knew that we had to get him extended, and we knew that we wanted him to be a core player here for a long time.”
Baker, collected a league high 147 tackles, and led the league with 104 solo tackles.
