Cardinals’ Budda Baker said part of him thought he would be traded: ‘Happy to be here’

TEMPE — Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker was enjoying his time on the golf course during the trade deadline on Tuesday, but he was dealing with the stress of uncertainty.

Baker has been with the Cardinals for 10 years, but trade rumors ramped up on Tuesday with the Cardinals sitting at 3-6.

Despite a reported push from the Buffalo Bills to get him, the Cardinals did not trade Baker, nor anyone from their defense on deadline day.

Baker said his agent called him on the 12th or 13th hole to let him know what was going on.

“It’s a business at the end of the day,” Baker said. “For me personally, I was uncertain on what was going to happen. But at the end of the day, I talked to (general manager Monti Ossenfort), talked to (head coach Mike LaFleur) and realized what was happening. I’m so happy to be here. I’m excited to go against the Rams and just excited to still be a Cardinal and focusing on this week and trying to get a W at home.”

Baker said there was a part of him that thought he had played his last game with the Cardinals.

He had already fielded questions about his mindset going into the trade deadline and was very well aware of the buzz surrounding his name, stressing that he was staying in the moment.

“Definitely a certain amount of stress not knowing,” Baker said. “Just excited to continue to get better, continue to be a Cardinal and continue to put my best foot forward each and every week.”

“I love being a Cardinal. I love being here. I love our fans,” Baker added. “I know on home games, we’re still trying to get them to come out, but we understand that there’s a lot of different people from different states. … So for us, just continue to try to play great football and, like I said, I love being here.”

Baker has played 147 games with the Cardinals, 20th in franchise history and top 10 when counting games after the team moved to the Valley. Baker has played one playoff game in his career and none since the 2021 postseason.

He has a $21 million cap hit next season in his age-31 campaign.

When asked about the outlook of the Cardinals, Baker said he was excited about it, noting he is looking forward to seeing how rookie quarterback Carson Beck performs in his debut on Sunday.

“Talked to LaFleur, as well,” Baker said. “Just the direction of the team, I definitely think that it’s on the up-and-up and anytime you have a new coaching staff, new offense, you understand that it’s going to — not necessarily take time but everyone’s working together for the first time. So for me personally on the defensive side, just try to play as great defensive football as we can and try to give the ball to the offense as much as possible.”

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