Pre-draft On January 8, 2018, Baker released a statement on his
Twitter account announcing his decision to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2018 NFL draft. Baker attended the
NFL Scouting Combine and completed the majority of combine drills, but opted to skip the short shuttle and three-cone drill. On March 22, he participated at Ohio State's
pro day and performed the short shuttle, three-cone drill, and positional drills. Baker attended pre-draft visits with the
Denver Broncos,
San Francisco 49ers, and
Jacksonville Jaguars. After the pre-draft process, Baker was projected to be a third or fourth-round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the seventh-best
linebacker in the draft by
Sports Illustrated, was ranked the seventh-best
outside linebacker by
Scouts Inc., and was ranked the 12th best outside linebacker by DraftScout.com.
Miami Dolphins 2018 The
Miami Dolphins selected Baker in the third round with the 73rd overall pick in the
2018 NFL draft. Baker was the tenth linebacker selected. He was reunited with former Ohio State teammate
Raekwon McMillan. On June 2, 2018, the Dolphins signed Baker to a four-year, $3.80 million
contract that includes a
signing bonus of $975,200. Throughout training camp, Baker competed to be the starting strongside linebacker after the role was left vacant by the departure of
Lawrence Timmons. Baker competed against
Mike Hull,
Stephone Anthony,
Chase Allen, and
Quentin Poling. Head coach
Adam Gase named Baker and
Kiko Alonso the starting outside linebackers to begin the regular season. They started alongside middle linebacker
Raekwon McMillan. He made his professional regular-season debut and first career start in the Dolphins' season-opener against the
Tennessee Titans, and made six combined tackles during their 27–20 victory. In Week 4, he collected a season-high ten combined tackles (six solos) as the Dolphins lost 38–7 at the
New England Patriots. The following week, he recorded seven combined tackles and made two sacks during a 27–17 loss at the
Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5. On November 4, Baker made five combined tackles, a pass deflection, and caught his first career interception during the Dolphins' 13–6 win against the
New York Jets in Week 9. He finished his rookie season with 79 combined tackles (57 solos), three pass deflections, three sacks, one interception, and one touchdown in 16 games with 11 starts. Baker earned an overall grade of 70.3 from
Pro Football Focus, which ranked as the 29th best among all qualified linebackers in 2018.
2019 In Week 2 against the Patriots, Baker recorded a team-high 12 tackles as the Dolphins lost 43–0. In Week 10 against the
Indianapolis Colts, Baker recorded a team-high eight tackles and one sack on quarterback
Brian Hoyer in the 16–12 win. In Week 15 against the
New York Giants, Baker recorded a team-high 12 tackles and intercepted a pass thrown by
Eli Manning during the 36–20 loss. He finished the 2019 season with 126 tackles, four passes defensed, two forced fumbles, 1.5 sacks, and one interception.
2020 Baker was placed on the reserve/
COVID-19 list by the Dolphins on July 31, 2020, and activated from the list three days later. In Week 1 against the Patriots, Baker recorded a team-high 16 tackles (12 solo), sacked quarterback
Cam Newton once, and forced wide receiver
N'Keal Harry to fumble the football in the endzone for a touchback during the 21–11 loss. In Week 14 against the
Kansas City Chiefs, Baker led the team with 9 tackles and sacked
Patrick Mahomes 2.5 times during the 33–27 loss. One of Baker's sacks on Mahomes resulted in a loss of 30 yards.
2021 Baker signed a three-year, $39 million contract extension with the Dolphins on June 13, 2021.
2023 On January 9, 2024, the Dolphins placed Baker on
injured reserve. On March 5, Baker was released. Contract negotiations between Miami and Baker had been proposed at the
NFL Combine, but they fell through.
Seattle Seahawks On March 16, 2024, Baker signed with the
Seattle Seahawks. On July 18, 2024, Baker was placed on the Active/
Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. On July 23, he was activated from the PUP list after passing his physical. He appeared in 5 games with the Seahawks, making 37 tackles, one sack, two pass deflections, and a fumble recovery.
Tennessee Titans On October 23, 2024, Baker and a 2025 fourth-round draft pick was sent to the Tennessee Titans in a trade with the
Seattle Seahawks for
Ernest Jones. He appeared in 5 games with the Titans, making 24 tackles, one sack, and two pass deflections. He finished the 2025 season with 1.5 sacks and 40 total tackles (11 solo). ==NFL career statistics==