Seahawks land LB Baker with one year, $7M deal
The Seattle Seahawks signed former Miami Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker on Saturday, the team announced.
The veteran landed a one-year, $7 million contract, Baker’s agents, Drew and Jason Rosenhaus, told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, an agreement that comes a day after Baker met with Seattle following another free agent visit with the Tennessee Titans.
Baker’s addition means the Seahawks have filled both starting spots at inside linebacker after the departures of Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks; they signed former Buffalo Bills veteran Tyrel Dodson to a one-year deal earlier this week. Brooks agreed to a deal with the Dolphins while Wagner signed with the Washington Commanders.
The Dolphins released Baker on March 5. Because Baker was released by Miami, he won’t count against the Seahawks’ formula for compensatory picks.
Baker, 27, who underwent surgery on his wrist in January and was released with a failed physical designation, was the team’s third-round pick in 2018 and has started 82 games in his six NFL seasons. The starting inside linebacker was entering the final year of a three-year, $37.5 million contract he signed in 2021.
Last season he appeared in 13 games (12 starts) and had 78 tackles, 2 interceptions and 1.5 sacks. He was placed on injured reserve in December after injuring an MCL during a win over the Commanders on Dec. 3. He returned for the regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills but suffered a wrist injury in that game that required surgery and kept him out of Miami’s wild-card round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
He has posted three seasons of at least 100 tackles and has 587 in 94 career games. He also has 22.5 sacks, 5 interceptions and 6 forced fumbles in his career.
Brooks, 26, who secured a three-year contract worth $30 million with the Dolphins agent Erik Burkhardt told Schefter on Monday, remarkably made it back for last season’s opener after tearing his ACL in Week 17 of the 2022 season. He played in 16 games for Seattle, missing one in December with an ankle injury that slowed him over the final six weeks of the season.
He improved as a playmaker, though he finished with 50 fewer tackles than he had in 2022 — going from 161 to 111. He recorded 4.5 sacks after totaling just two over his first three seasons and returned his first career interception for a touchdown.
ESPN staff writers Marcel Louis-Jacques and Brady Henderson contributed to this report.
