Time to highlight another safety for the Buffalo Bills ahead of this year’s NFL trade deadline
Taking center stage today is Cardinals safety Budda Baker, a 10th-year, smaller, do-everything safety with 8,999 career snaps entering Week 9 who resides on an 3-5 Arizona team that has surprising wins thus far on its 2026 resume but doesn’t feel like a true NFC contender.
This article is the tenth in the trade-candidate series I’ll continue to sprinkle onto the site until the actual trade deadline until November
10.
Past installments in this series:
Derwin James, Brian Thomas Jr. Jessie Bates, Tariq Woolen, Amani Hooker, Antoine Winfield Jr., Cam Bynum, Zack Baun, Josh Downs
Age: 30
A second-round pick in 2017 after an awesome career at the University of Washington, Baker quickly became a key piece on the Cardinals defense, logging 515 snaps as a rookie before 939 in his second season.
He’s played over 1,000 in five seasons since. Baker’s first interception came in his fourth professional since, and since the start of 2020, he has nine picks. In his 10 seasons to date, Baker also has 48 pass breakups, and averages 125 tackles and six tackles for loss per year.
2026 snap splits
Box: 45.6%
Free safety: 38.8%
Slot corner: 10.5%
Defensive line: 4.7%
Baker is listed at 5’10” and 190 pounds. He’s long lived in the box and been plenty productive there. He plays like a small extra linebacker on the field with coverage ability.
His career missed tackle rate is 12.3%, which isn’t ridiculously good but given how often he’s near the football, it’s respectable. That rate in 2026 is currently 13.7%, the lowest rate he’s managed since a very low 7.6% in 2023.
As he’s gotten older, Arizona has transitioned Baker’s role closer to the line of scrimmage. The 2024 campaign was the last in which he played the most snaps at free safety. Last season marked this move into the box, and he’s stayed there more than any other pre-snap alignment in the first eight games of 2026.
How he’d fit with Bills
Baker is a good, versatile football player. I’ve always thought he was a touch overrated because he’s never been a true star in coverage. He’s a magnet to the football, plays with insane energy and reckless abandon.
Do the Bills need a box safety who can play a little free safety in a pinch?
Not really.
Cole Bishop has proven to be best in that role, and he’s the one constant in Buffalo’s safety room right now.
If anything, they could use a rangy, center-field type. Baker did play that role earlier in his career. At nearly 31, that’s simply not his specialty anymore.
Financial obligation for Bills to trade for him
2026 salary: $14.415M
If the Bills trade for Baker after Week 9, they’d be on the hook for $7.2M in prorated 2026 base salary. Buffalo has roughly $4M in 2026 space currently, so they’d most likely ask Arizona to eat some of Baker’s remaining salary to facilitate this trade.
In 2027, his base salary is $16M.
Projected cost to acquire
Using Syndicate32.com’s trade machine, the projected cost to trade for Baker is a late third-round pick in 2027.
That feels a bit rich given his age, but his reputation as a tackling machine could keep the compensation in that range.
Should the Bills trade for Budda Baker?
This is the one deal I’m essentially all the way out on for the Bills. And I’ll be brief with my rationale. Baker is good. He’d help the Bills defense. No doubt. Stability across the board.
But he turns 31 in January, is pretty costly, and Buffalo would get the most out of his current-day talents by placing him in the box, where Bishop is clearly at his best.
Plus, you’re likely sending a third or fourth-round pick to Arizona for him, not a late Day 3 selection.
Baker would simply cause too much disruption in the Bills defensive scheme and on the books for me to view this trade as tenable.
But if the Bills really do want to add a veteran safety with a high floor, he might be the only option available.
