NEW ORLEANS — Greater than 160 fellow free brokers secured greater contracts final offseason than the one which Zack Baun signed with the Eagles.
And but Baun is considered one of 5 finalists for NFL Defensive Participant of the 12 months.
Baun left New Orleans in March as a bit participant over 4 years with the Saints and returned Monday night time as a game-wrecker accountable for getting the Eagles into Tremendous Bowl 2025.
“Comfortable, good to be back,” Baun mentioned Monday throughout Opening Night time, “but it’s only special if we win this thing.”
The Saints needed Baun so badly throughout the third spherical of the 2020 draft that they traded a future third-rounder simply to swap picks and transfer up 14 spots. After which he was handled like a participant with no place and become a core member of particular groups.
So, it was just a little head-scratching when the Eagles prioritized signing Baun to a one-year, $3.5 million deal on the primary day of free company final season — hours after poaching Saquon Barkley and Bryce Huff out of New York for multiyear, big-money contracts.
“I was role player here in New Orleans,” Baun mentioned, “but the thing is I just kept working and working and working and knew that it’s about the circumstances sometimes.”
Now, Baun, 28, appears just like the NFL’s finest discount thanks partly to defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s choice to show Baun right into a full-time inside linebacker as an alternative of a part-time edge rusher. Not less than till he reaches free company once more subsequent month and is projected by Professional Soccer Focus to money in on a three-year, $39 million contract.
“Everyone wants to be wanted in some capacity,” Baun mentioned. “That was the Eagles for me. Vic had a plan for me from the start.”
In 4 seasons with the Saints, Baun tallied 88 tackles, two sacks and one interception in 14 begins over 64 video games. In a single season with the Eagles, Baun rang up 151 tackles, 5 compelled fumbles, 4 passes defended, one interception and three.5 sacks in 16 video games and begins.
“I was never frustrated,” Baun mentioned. “Partially because that’s on me. My slow development and transition from position to position. But I just trusted the process.”
Baun added one other compelled fumble and fumble restoration when the Eagles defeated the Commanders within the NFC Championship recreation.
His knack for stripping the ball is the rationale that Eagles stalwart Brandon Graham — who made the decisive play within the 2018 Tremendous Bowl — picked Baun to make the largest play Sunday from all choices surrounding him.
“That boy, I expect him to go out and give me everything he’s got,” Graham mentioned, “because that’s what he shows in practice.”
Baun collected his first piece of {hardware} for his breakthrough season final week, when his fellow linebackers stunned him with the Butkus Award for the NFL’s finest linebacker at a small dinner.
Subsequent up? He earned his spot subsequent to T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett — each of whom are on Corridor of Fame tracks — on the Defensive Participant of the 12 months podium.
“It’s really cool to be even mentioned with those guys,” Baun mentioned. “It’s a credit to a lot of people … I couldn’t do it without.”
