The Eagles Are up to Something: Could a Budda Baker Trade Be Coming?
The Philadelphia Eagles just showed the fan base that they are all in on Jalen Hurts. As they should be. There is something extremely interesting about his deal though. The deal is set to make him the highest paid player in the NFL at $255M over 5 years but his cap hit over the next two years is only $19.7M. Why such a low cap hit over the next two years? The Eagles are planning to make a move. They’ve put emphasis on wanting to maintain enough salary cap space to build a roster around Jalen Hurts. The Eagles are still roughly $20M under the salary cap for 2023 and I don’t think they plan to stay that far below the cap. The Eagles currently have a Super Bowl contending roster and may be a piece away from being Super Bowl favorites.
Along with Jalen Hurts new deal, the Eagles restructured Jordan Mailata’s deal from 2021. His restructure now saves the Eagles $7.64M in 2024 and $7.77M in 2025. But why? At face value, it could be seen as taking pressure off the salary cap when Jalen Hurt’s monster deal is set to kick in. Although that may be the case, I believe there is more to it.
A name just arose in trade talks that is surely going to spark interest from most teams in the NFL. That guy is five-time pro bowler Budda Baker. It’s pretty evident why Baker wants out of Arizona. With Kyler Murray out to start the year with a torn ACL, they are positioned to be selecting a top 5 pick again in 2024. Budda Baker has made it very evident he wants to play on a winning football team.
With the loss of C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps there is suddenly a serious need to find replacements at safety. Budda Baker has two years left on his current deal with the Arizona Cardinals. In 2023 he is set to make a little over $13M and $14M in 2024. The Eagles currently are far enough under the salary cap to take on his contract this year and next. Budda Baker would not only replace the loss of CJ. Gardner-Johnson, but he’d be an upgrade. In Budda’s six-year NFL career he has been a 5-time Pro Bowler and 3-time All-Pro. He has racked up over 100 tackles in four of his six years in the NFL. To put that in perspective, Malcolm Jenkins had one year within his 13-year career with over 100 tackles, and both Rodney Mcleod Jr. and C.J. Gardner-Johnson have never hit that mark. At only 27 years old, some of Budda Baker’s best football is still to come.
It’s uncertain what Arizona would take in a trade for Budda Baker but I think a couple late round picks could get it done. The Eagles secured C.J. Gardner Johnson from the Saints last season for 2023 and 2024 future considerations. With an additional year on Budda Baker’s contract, it might take a little more. Regardless of the asking price, it is a deal that fills one of the Eagles biggest holes on their roster. With the Eagles letting C.J. Gardner-Johnson walk, it makes you wonder if they’d trade for a guy making even more money. The NFL draft is on April 27th and it’ll be interesting to see what the Eagles do to retool this roster. If the Cardinals are taking calls for Budda Baker on draft night, the Eagles need to make the call.
(Photo: Ross D. Franklin/ AP)
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Categorized:Eagles