Baxter's classical theorem for orthogonal polynomials on the unit circle establishes that the linear Fourier coefficients of a measure are in $\ell^1$ if and only if the nonlinear coefficients, i.e., the so-called Verblunsky coefficients, are in $\ell^1$. We prove an analog of Baxter's theorem for the SU(2)-valued nonlinear Fourier transform. The proof of Baxter's theorem is qualitative in nature. We explore possible formulations of such quantitative theorems with norm and Lipschitz estimates. In particular, we construct a counterexample for certain such estimates