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Miami Dolphins give three-year extension to linebacker Jerome Baker

Two days after Jerome Baker said he wanted to finish his career with the Dolphins, the Dolphins gave a three-year contract extension to the fourth-year linebacker on Sunday.

Baker agreed to a three-year, $39 million extension, agent Drew Rosenhaus told The Miami Herald and others. The deal includes $28.4 million guaranteed.

That average annual value is the sixth-highest among NFL linebackers.

Baker had one more season remaining on his rookie deal, which will pay him $2.4 million in 2021.

In 2020, Baker took the step from decent starter to an above average one, achieving a career high in sacks with seven and ranking 28th in the league with 112 tackles.

Of the 43 players who had at least 100 tackles last season, Baker and Tampa Bay’s Devin White were the only two who had more than five sacks.

Overall, Pro Football Focus rated him 37th of 83 qualifying linebackers and 58th against the run.

This past season, he allowed 44 of 59 passes in his coverage area to be caught for 403 yards, one touchdown and a 98.7 rating in his coverage area.

Baker said Friday that “I want to play here the rest of my career. I love it here. I love the fans, I love the organization. I love everyone here. I can definitely see myself playing here a long time.”

Last season, Baker was 25th on the Dolphins in base salary, making just $810,000.

He was on the field for 84 percent of the Dolphins’ defensive snaps last year, and he outplayed that deal by such a degree that the NFL awarded him an additional $447,000 bonus.

I love this team,” he said Friday. “I love being out here. I love being on this team. Being out here, getting back to football, it ultimately helps me in the long run. The contract stuff’s the contract stuff. I really don’t care for that right now.

“I honestly just missed being out there with all the guys, especially all the personalities we have, the new guys. And ultimately, just learning and getting better. I love to play football and that obviously is why I’m out here. It’s what I love to do and I just want our team to get better.”

Baker, an excellent blitzer, showed progress as a pass rusher last season, producing a career-high 15 pressures on 99 blitzes.

“I definitely look myself in the mirror and know what I need to do to get better,” Baker said. “For me, locking in on the run game, being one of those linebackers that secures the inside, not just in the pass game but in the run game.

“Ultimately, I want this defense to be one of the best in the league. We have the coaches; we have the organization behind us. Ultimately, we have to go out as a defense and prove it every game.”

He added: “It’s still early but we can be as great as we want to be. Every day, we’ve got to go in there in the offseason and get better. Just do what we’ve been doing. Playing great offense, great defense. Just playing as a team. The sky’s the limit, honestly, for this team.

“We’re young, we’re hungry. We definitely have some things we need to work on, but ultimately if we just play together and play as a team, it definitely can be a good year for us.”

Coach Brian Flores said Friday that Baker is “tough, smart, competitive, loves to play. He’s team-first. He’s really gotten better in every area — pass coverage, run defense, really across the board. He’s a very good player.”

Baker becomes the second member of the Dolphins’ 2018 draft class to sign an extension a year or less before unrestricted free agency. The Dolphins previously gave a five-year, $22 million contract to kicker Jason Sanders, the team’s seventh-round pick in 2018.

Tight ends Mike Gesicki and Durham Smythe are now the team’s top remaining players from the 2018 draft class that have not received an extension. Both would be unrestricted free agents in March if that doesn’t change.

Before Baker got his new deal on Sunday, the most recent linebacker to receive a large extension from the Dolphins was Kiko Alonso, who was given a three-year, $29 million contract extension, which guaranteed him $18.5 million at signing.

Earlier this offseason, the Dolphins traded linebacker Shaq Lawson for linebacker Benardrick McKinney, who’s due $7 million in base salary in 2021 and $8.5 million in 2022.