Report: Cardinals safety Budda Baker to miss remainder of season with shoulder injury

Arizona Cardinals All-Pro safety Budda Baker is out for the rest of the season due to a fractured shoulder, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

It’s unclear as to when exactly Baker suffered the injury, as he never exited the 19-16 overtime defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at State Farm Stadium on Sunday Night Football on Christmas Day.

Baker, who was named as an NFC Pro Bowl starter last week, will miss the team’s final two games at the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday and at the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 8.

He had only missed one game since 2019 and played through a high ankle sprain earlier this season in Week 10 after head coach Kliff Kingsbury had said Baker wasn’t going to play just four days prior.

The now five-time Pro Bowler finished the 2022 season with two interceptions, seven passes defensed, one forced fumble, 111 tackles, one tackle for loss and two QB hits.

Baker joins quarterback Kyler Murray and cornerback Byron Murphy as fellow starting teammates to also suffer season-ending injuries in recent weeks.

Backup safeties Chris Banjo and Charles Washington will get some run alongside Jalen Thompson in the back end of Arizona’s secondary in the captain’s absence.

Banjo, who is in his 10th NFL season and fourth in the Valley, is beloved by his teammates in the locker room as well.

In other Cardinals injury news, CB Marco Wilson — who missed Week 15 due to a neck injury — is day-to-day with a stinger, Kingsbury told reporters on Monday.

Backup defensive end Trysten Hill, who suffered a knee injury in Sunday night’s defeat, is considered day-to-day, per Rapoport.

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