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Safety Budda Baker of the Arizona Cardinals.
The Kansas City Chiefs are sleeper candidates to make a trade for one of the best safeties in the NFL.
Kansas City is certainly going to prioritize the defensive line above all else, where the roster could use help at defensive tackle and defensive end. However, Bill Barnwell of ESPN wrote in his trade guide on Thursday, October 30, that a third position of need is safety.
ESPN’s Ben Solak initially named the Buffalo Bills as a potential trade partner for Arizona Cardinals standout safety Budda Baker, but the same logic is applicable to the Chiefs and their need in the secondary.
“As the Cardinals’ season falls apart, the 29-year-old Baker might finally get the trade he requested in 2023 — though he signed an extension that makes it trickier,” Solak wrote on October 29.
Budda Baker More Likely Trade Candidate After Cardinals’ 5-Game Losing Streak
GettyArizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker.
The Cardinals started off the season 2-0 but have lost five games in a row and play in what is otherwise shaping up to be one of the best divisions in football. Every other NFC West team has five wins through Week 8, and Arizona’s chances of making the playoffs are even slimmer because quarterback Kyler Murray will sit out again this Monday during a road game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cardinals were a trendy pick to both make the playoffs and potentially win their division in 2025 based on what the advanced metrics had to say during the preseason, but with that possibility likely already out the window the team is now a strong candidate to sell talent ahead of the league’s November 4 trade deadline.
Baker is playing on a three-year deal worth $54 million that keeps him under contract through 2027. He will play next season at 30 years old and could be worth dealing if Arizona can get a strong return for him, especially given the team’s short-term outlook with regards to win/loss success.
A nine-year veteran of the NFL, Baker has earned Pro-Bowl honors seven times, including in each of the last six seasons. He is also a four-time All-Pro.
Chiefs Could Also Pursue Trade for Cardinals DT Calais Campbell
GettyDefensive tackle Calais Campbell of the Arizona Cardinals
Another player from the Cardinals who could end up with the Chiefs at some point over the next few days is defensive tackle Calais Campbell.
“The Chiefs have been actively searching for defensive line help,” Dianna Russini of The Athletic wrote Saturday.
Barnwell actually mentioned Kansas City by name on Thursday after noting Campbell as the Cardinals’ primary trade candidate.
“Campbell is continuing to play at a high level, and he might want to simply finish his career where it started in Arizona, but the 39-year-old is good enough to play meaningful snaps on a team that’s competing for a Super Bowl,” Barnwell wrote. “He would be a great fit for a team like the Chiefs or Bills, both of whom could use extra depth up front.”
Kansas City and Buffalo square off at Highmark Stadium on Sunday.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
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