As far as internet rules go, if you continue to tweet about it, it will happen.

Case in point, Budda Baker and his reported interest in becoming a Philadelphia Eagle. We must speak it into existence.

Check this recent clip from Up and Adams:

In case you’re living under a rock and unaware, Baker requested a trade out of Arizona. Maybe he doesn’t want to play SOFT ZONE under Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis. Pure speculation on my part of course, but Baker is the real deal. He’s 27 years old and went to the Pro Bowl in five of his six NFL seasons. He was a first-team all pro in 2017 and 2020 and has played 93 games in six seasons, missing very little action since turning pro (though he did end this season on IR with a shoulder fracture).

Back in August of 2020, Baker signed a four-year, $59 million extension with the Cardinals, which made him the highest-paid safety in the NFL. There are now six guys with a higher AAV, but he’s right up there with Justin Simmons and Kevin Byard.

According to Spotrac, Baker’s cap hit is about $17 million this year and $18 million next year, then he’s set to become a free agent in 2025. I have no doubt that if Howie Roseman makes this trade, there would be the typical cap wizardry applied, with void years and stretched money and all of that. Nobody on the roster is set to hit at more than $15 million this year, and most of the guys at the top (Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce, etc) have stretched contracts that push money into the future.

There’s no question of “do the Eagles have enough to make this trade?” They’ve got plenty of draft assets and enough wiggle room cap-wise because of Howie’s ability to move money around. The cap-friendly Jalen Hurts deal helps immensely in this regard, and on paper, safety is probably the biggest position of need right now, one of two positions on the defensive side where each starter from the Super Bowl team is gone. If the season began today, you’d be rolling Reed Blankenship and Terrell Edmunds out there, with reclamation project Justin Evans in the mix. The Eagles can certainly go for Brian Branch at the end of the first round, and address the safety position that way, otherwise Baker makes a ton of sense.