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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

for the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The Defenders compete in the United Football League (2024), United Football League (UFL) as a member of the XFL Conference. The team was founded by Vince McMaho ...

of the United Football League (UFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and was selected by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in the first round of the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

. Baker played one 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

Early life

During his time at Miami Northwestern Senior High School, Baker was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

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 National Signing Day has traditionally been the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a school that is a Division II member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

, despite speculation that he would sign with

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

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, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

. Following the 2017 season, Baker was named to the Second-team

All-Southeastern Conference The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons

Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: ...

. Baker considered declaring for the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

, but he ultimately elected to return to school for his senior year. Baker was one of the best

cornerbacks 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 ...

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 In the Nordic countries, especially Denmark and Sweden, but not in Iceland, snaps ( , ), among many nicknames, is a small shot of a strong alcoholic beverage taken during the course of a meal. In Denmark, a snaps will always be akvavit, althou ...

. He was named a consensus

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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 College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athle ...

, 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

as one of the best cornerback prospects.

College statistics

Professional career

New York Giants

Baker was selected by the New York Giants in the first round, 30th overall, of the

. The Giants had traded up with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

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 In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

of the

. 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 National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

, and

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

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

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

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 Justin Patrick Herbert (born March 10, 1998) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon Ducks football, Orego ...

. 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.

DC Defenders

On January 25, 2024, Baker signed with the

of the United Football League (UFL). He was named to the 2024 All-UFL team on June 5, 2024. On June 2, 2025, Baker was named to the 2025 All-UFL Team.

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 use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

and

aggravated assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result ...

with a firearm, along with Quinton Dunbar of the

. 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 ''deposition (law), deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by la ...

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 statistics
at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

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 DC Defenders players