Deandre Lamar Baker (born September 4, 1997) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

who is a free agent. He played college football at

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and was drafted by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Baker only played a single season with the Giants before being released by them due to charges of armed robbery, which were later dropped. He has also been a member of the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

High school career

During his time at

Miami Northwestern Senior High School Miami Northwestern Senior High School is a public four-year high school located in Miami, Florida, United States History Academics Northwestern has long been known for its academic challenges; however, the school has shown an unprecedented ...

, Baker was an All-American Sprinter and participated in the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

on the second leg.

College career

Baker signed with Georgia on national signing day, despite speculation that he would sign with

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

based on a tweet he sent out the night before. As a true freshman at Georgia in 2015, Baker played in 11 games. During the 2016 season, Baker was injured in a game against Vanderbilt. He recovered, but was later injured against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. Following the 2017 season, Baker was named to the Second-team All-SEC. Baker considered declaring for the 2018 NFL draft, but he ultimately elected to return to school for his senior year. Baker was one of the best

defensive backs In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

in college football in his senior season. He allowed only 175 yards and a 40.2 NFL passer rating to opposing receivers in 2018, which both ranked in the top 5 of all draft eligible cornerbacks with a minimum of 300 coverage

snaps Snaps ( ) is a Danish and Swedish word for a small shot of a strong alcoholic beverage taken during the course of a meal. A ritual that is associated with drinking snaps is a tradition in Scandinavia, especially in Denmark and Sweden, where ...

. He was named a consensus

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

All-American and won the

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986. It is voted on by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017, the award became sponsored by Payco ...

, awarded to the best defensive back in college football. Over his entire 4-year tenure at Georgia, Baker only allowed one touchdown. Baker entered the 2019 NFL Draft as one of the best defensive back prospects.

Professional career

New York Giants

Baker was selected by the New York Giants in the first round, 30th overall, of the 2019 NFL Draft. The Giants had traded up with the Seattle Seahawks to acquire the pick giving up their 37th, 132nd and 142nd picks. Baker was placed on the commissioner's exempt list on July 27, 2020, following his May 2020 arrest. The Giants waived Baker on September 8, 2020.

Kansas City Chiefs

On November 19, 2020, Baker was signed to the

' practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster on December 19, December 26, and January 2, 2021, for the team's weeks 15, 16, and 17 games against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, Atlanta Falcons, and

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. Against the Chargers, Baker broke his

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates wit ...

on a non-contact play, becoming only the second NFL player to suffer a broken femur during a game. During the game, Baker recorded his first career sack on Justin Herbert. He was placed on the practice squad/injured list on January 12, 2021. On February 9, 2021, Baker re-signed with the Chiefs. He was waived on August 7, 2022.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

On May 14, 2020, a warrant was issued for Baker's arrest under charges of

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

and aggravated assault with a firearm, along with Quinton Dunbar of the Seattle Seahawks. The following day, Baker's lawyer issued a statement claiming that he was in possession of multiple

affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a stateme ...

s allegedly exonerating his client. The two allegedly robbed guests at gunpoint during a house party and had turned themselves in to the police by May 16. On August 7, 2020, Baker was charged with four counts of robbery with a firearm. There was evidence suggesting the alleged victims accepted $55,000 in exchange for changing their story in regards to Dunbar. On November 16, 2020, the charges against Baker were dropped.

References

External links

College stats
at Sports-Reference.com
New York Giants bio

Georgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Deandre 1997 births Living people Miami Northwestern Senior High School alumni Players of American football from Miami American football cornerbacks Georgia Bulldogs football players All-American college football players New York Giants players Kansas City Chiefs players