Super Bowl Champion And Best Linebacker In Football, Zack Baun, Finally Gets His Big Payday With The Eagles
Kara Durrette. Getty Images.Zack Baun has to be one of the greatest stories ever told in the National Football League.
The Philadelphia Eagles went out last offseason and made two huge splashes in free agency. They signed Saquon Barkley to load up the offense, and then they signed Bryce Huff to load up the defense. Saquon was obviously one of the best signings in league history after he had the biggest season out of a running back ever. Bryce Huff? Well….honestly it would have been better if everyone just completely forgot Bryce Huff ever existed. It was a rare swing and a miss by Howie Roseman.
But he also managed to sign Zack Baun from the New Orleans Saints with the idea that he'd be a special teamer, and just help out with depth at the linebacker position. There weren't any lofty expectations with Zack Baun coming to Philadelphia, and nobody even batted an eye when the Eagles signed him. It was a 1-year, $3.5 million deal. And then….
Zack Baun became an absolute monster. 151 tackles, up from his former career high of 30. 93 solo tackles. 5 forced fumbles. He moved to the inside, was a first team All-Pro, finalist for Defensive Player of the Year, and oh yeah--had a pick in the Super Bowl before becoming a Super Bowl champ for the first time in his career. He was quite literally everything the Eagles could have wanted out of Bryce Huff when they signed him to a 3-year, $51 million contract last offseason.
So Howie Roseman went out and signed Zack Baun to the same deal today as a thank you for bailing him out of that one.
One of the toughest parts about being a successful NFL team is finding a way to keep your core group of guys together. The moment you start to have any success, that means you have a bunch of underpaid guys who are wildly out-producing what they are getting paid. The moment you start to have any success, you're going to have a bunch of guys on your roster who are looking to get paid for that success. There's only so much money to go around, so it's not like you can keep everyone around.
Zack Baun was a guy who the Eagles couldn't afford to lose. Even if last year was the best year of his career and it goes down from there, Zack Baun earned his payday. He's a major reason why the Eagles were a completely different team than the 2023 collapse team. Not only was he a monster on the field, but you could tell he was the leader on that defense. Humble, hard-working, strictly focused on winning as many games as possible.
I don't think you could have blamed the Eagles if they ended up losing Zack Baun in free agency. It's not like they signed him last year with the intentions of having to give him an enormous extension this offseason. But thank god they were able to work out a deal here because it would have been a swift kick to the dick if they let him walk.