Zack

Baun

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Baun’s deal includes $34 million guaranteed and $1.5 million in incentives and escalators. Baun joined Philly on a one-year, $3.5 million contract last year. It proved to be one of many lucrative moves made by the Philly front office during the offseason. Baun led the Eagles with 151 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 11 TFLs and five forced fumbles. The veteran linebacker finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and was one of the biggest reasons the Philadelphia defense returned to form after imploding in 2023. Needless to say, the Eagles weren’t going to let Baun anywhere near free agency. Now the reigning Super Bowl champions have him locked up through the 2027 season.

Baun was a first-team All Pro and finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting as, essentially, a lightly-regarded free agent pickup in the 2024 offseason. The Eagles have been up front about how even they didn’t expect things to turn out this way for Baun — if they did, maybe they would have thought to build in a second year to the contract. Roseman said, when asked about how the team hasn’t traditionally valued linebacker: “To put us in a box and say...we’re not going to pay because we historically have not done that, part of what we do is evolve. We look at things and see how they’re affecting the team, see how they’re affecting the league, and our place in that.” Baun’s lack of track record might give teams some pause, but entering his age-29 season it’s hard to not call him the most impactful defender in free agency this offseason.

Baun was held out of Friday’s practice last week but returned for three full sessions this week. A day after finishing fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting, Baun is all clear with Super Bowl LIX two days away. Baun has been a breakout star for Philly, leading the team in tackles (151) while finishing second on the roster in TFLs (11) during the regular season.

Fantastic news. Baun gave Eagles fans a scare when he appeared on last Friday’s injury report as a non-participant, but his full return indicates his groin issue was mild. The star linebacker can safely be expected to suit up this weekend.

This is a situation to monitor closely. Baun leads all Eagles defenders in both solo tackles (136) and tackles for loss or no gain (19). The star linebacker has a little over a week to rehab the injury. Next week’s injury report should help clarify the injury’s severity.

A 2020 third-rounder, Baun is mostly a space-filling situational pass rusher whose only two career sacks came in 2023. Already headed into his age-28 campaign, he’s not a projectable flier for a retooling Eagles defense.

A former Wisconsin Offensive Player of the Year winner for his dual-threat quarterbacking as a senior at Brown Deer High, Baun (6’2/238) buoyed that athleticism into consensus first-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten honors with 73 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, and 11.5 sacks (second only to Ohio State’s Chase Young) as a redshirt senior. Baun was deployed in a hybrid edge role with the Badgers but will likely transition as an off-ball outside linebacker given his smaller frame and elite explosiveness, including an unprecedented 99th-percentile 10-yard split (1.54 seconds) and 4.65 40-time. “You’re talking about a defensive end playing inside linebacker...That’s a whole different world,” one anonymous scout said. Baun admittedly needs more technical refinement to be a truly impactful player at the next level, but he’s versatile enough to open the year as a rotational player immediately.

A former Wisconsin Offensive Player of the Year winner for his dual-threat quarterbacking as a senior at Brown Deer High, Baun (6’2/238) buoyed that athleticism into consensus first-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten honors with 73 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, and 11.5 sacks (second only to Ohio State’s Chase Young) as a redshirt senior. Baun was deployed in a hybrid edge role with the Badgers but will likely transition as an off-ball outside linebacker given his smaller frame and elite explosiveness, including an unprecedented 99th-percentile 10-yard split (1.54 seconds) and 4.65 40-time. “You’re talking about a defensive end playing inside linebacker...That’s a whole different world,” one anonymous scout said. Baun admittedly needs more technical refinement to be a truly impactful player at the next level, but he’s versatile enough to open the year as a rotational pass rusher with the ability to excel in coverage immediately.

Baun (6'2/238) ran a 4.65 40-yard dash and posted jump totals of 32.5 in the vertical and 115 inches in the broad. Baun was considered by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler to be the third best LB in the 2020 class and a first-round worthy talent. His 12.5 sacks and 91.5 PFF edge-rush grade in 2019 show the ability to rush the passer as Baun’s motor and athleticism projects to a future off-ball linebacker position. Whether he is selected by the Bengals or not, Baun will be coming off the board in short order once the second round of the draft resumes.

That is the same as a failure in the NFL’s eyes. Baun claims it was the result of overhydrating ahead of his weigh-in. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes, this will not count as a strike against Baun under the league’s new CBA. An off-ball linebacker who is still successful at getting after the passer, Baun has been considered a Day 1 pick, though he is ancient (24 in December) for a first-year pro.