Budda Baker isn’t just hungry. The longtime safety for the Arizona Cardinals is starving.
He is entering his 10th season with the NFL franchise and he’s experienced just one winning season (in 2021) and zero playoff victories since becoming a second-round draft pick out of Washington in 2017.
Not only that, but Baker is now on his fifth different head coach in first-year man Mike LaFleur following a parade of coaches that included Bruce Arians, Steve Wilks, Kliff Kingsbury and Jonathan Gannon.
He is only 30 years old but surely, he must have expected he would have won a playoff game or two by now. Instead, all he hears is the clock slowly ticking down on what’s been a marvelous career without feeling the joy of any real team success.
The Cardinals
haven’t won a postseason game since 2015, two years before Baker arrived, and the eight-time Pro Bowl selection knows there’s only so much time left for him and his Arizona teammates to finally make a run and do something great.
“For me, since my rookie year there there’s been a sense of urgency that I wanted to get into the playoffs,” Baker said, after the Cardinals’ first training camp practice at State Farm Stadium on Thursday, July 23. “Yeah, I’m into Year 10, but I feel great. I feel at the top of my game, the best I can feel as a player. For me, the clock is always ticking.
“I’m just a sore loser at heart. No matter what, I’m trying to win games.”
The 2026 Cardinals, however, aren’t expected to do any better than they did a year ago when they finished last in the NFC West with a 3-14 record. BetMGM has Arizona’s over/under win total listed at 3.5, the worst in the league.
Not that Baker is paying attention to that.
“I have very high expectations with the team,” Baker said. “You see the media sometimes, you see things sometimes. It doesn’t really get to me because they’re just on the outside looking in. At the end of the day, the only guys that matter are the guys in the huddle, the guys on the field.
“With the player personnel we have, with the coaching staff we have, I have very high expectations on this team.”
What is he supposed to say? There’s a very good reason why Baker is expected to be named a team captain for the seventh consecutive season. It’s because win, lose or draw (but mostly lose), he’s a leader who always has his team’s back. He’s never been a selfish player who casts blame on others and points fingers.
If he sees a teammate making bonehead mistakes or not pulling his weight, Baker will step in and address it immediately to get the situation corrected, not just yell and walk away to let things fester.
And he isn’t getting any softer just because he’s been around the Cardinals longer than any other player on the roster. If anything, he is more focused and determined than ever to finally help this franchise turn the corner and rediscover credibility.
“I think he looks the best he’s ever looked since I’ve been with him, to be honest,” Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, now in his fourth season with the club, said on Saturday, July 25. “And that’s real and he’ll tell you that. He’s moving so good, and he’s just on a different level in terms of how he takes care of himself, how he trains.
“He is phenomenal and he looks phenomenal. He’s got the play style. He’s got the ability he’s always had. You can just see that – the work that he puts in he’s still that missile. It’s pretty cool to see. I kind of wish I had his home set up — big weight room, multiple racks, recovery center. There’s a reason why he’s feeling the way he’s feeling and moving the way he’s moving.”
Though one might assume Baker might have been at his wit’s end facing yet another coaching change, he said he is excited about some of the differences. He especially liked LaFleur’s idea of switching up player spots in the locker room.
“It’s not all DBs on the same side anymore,” Baker said. “I’m next to a bunch of different, various people and we’re all having conversations.
“Something else that’s really cool is LaFleur put a little players’ lounge in here, so we’ve got guys playing ping pong, guys joking around and having a good time. It’s definitely exciting, the team feels real together and we’re ready to start training camp.”
They are nearly a week into it now and quarterback Jacoby Brissett is present and taking part in some portion of practices despite not being happy with his current contract situation. Baker addressed it on social media in the days leading up to camp, expressing frustration that a new deal had yet to be reached.
“It was getting close to camp, I’m getting a little itchy and some things were slightly said. That’s just how I am,” Baker explained to reporters. “I just want everyone to be on the field. If you’re signed with the Arizona Cardinals, be on the field, get work in, grind, take it one day at a time and whoever is with the ones is with the ones.
“You’re only going to get better by practicing.”
Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic .Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Roc and Manuch with Jimmy B on ESPN 620 (KTAR-AM) and every Thursday on the Doug Franz Unplugged podcast via Apple or Spotify.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals' Budda Baker still chasing elusive playoff success
