An ESPN poll of NFL executives, scouts and coaches had the Arizona Cardinals’ Budda Baker ranked as a top-10 safety.
Baker turned 28 in January and enters the final year of his contract with $14.2 million left on his deal.
The star safety will look to bounce back from a 2023 season that saw him miss five games due to a hamstring injury suffered in a Week 2 practice.
Across 12 games, Baker made 87 total tackles. He did not have an interception for the first time since 2019 and did not have a pass defensed for the first time in his career.
Despite missing five games — something the safety had never done in a single season — Baker found his way back on the field and on his way to his sixth Pro Bowl appearance in seven NFL seasons.
In seven seasons with the Cardinals, he has 737 combined tackles, 526 solo tackles, 37 tackles for loss, seven interceptions and 34 passes defensed.
The three-time All-Pro selection’s stats don’t tell the complete story according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, “his toughness and tone-setting do.”
“He hasn’t dropped off at all as far as his ability to close on the football, be disruptive, play with physicality, leadership, football smarts,” an NFL coordinator said. “That [Cardinals] defense really missed him early in the year when he missed a few games.”
According to ESPN, Baker’s 37% run stop win rate led all safeties with at least 100 run stop wins.
“The most urgent defensive back in the league,” an NFL personnel evaluator said. “He’s so fast to the football.”
ESPN’s complete list of the NFL’s top 10 safeties ranked by execs, coaches and scouts:
1. Antoine Winfield Jr., Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2. Kyle Hamilton, Baltimore Ravens
3. Jessie Bates III, Atlanta Falcons
4. Minkah Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Steelers
5. Jevon Holland, Miami Dolphins
6. Budda Baker, Arizona Cardinals
7. Derwin James Jr., Los Angeles Chargers
8. Kyle Dugger, New England Patriots
9. Talanoa Hufanga, San Francisco 49ers
10. Xavier McKinney, Green Bay Packers
