They were never going to lose Zack Baun. Howie Roseman wasn’t going to let it happen.
The Eagles took care of their biggest offseason priority Wednesday when they signed the all-pro linebacker to a three-year contract four days before the start of free agency.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the deal is worth $51 million over three years with incentives that could raise the value another $1.5 million.
Baun would have become an unrestricted free agent on Monday without a new deal. The Eagles held his exclusive negotiating rights until the start of the so-called legal tampering period.
Baun’s average annual salary of $17 million makes him the 4th-highest-paid off-ball linebacker in the league and by far the highest-paid linebacker in Eagles history.
The previous record contract by an Eagles linebacker was Nigel Bradham’s five-year, $40 million deal from 2018. He only played two years under that deal.
Baun became one of the most remarkable stories in Eagles history this year, going from a backup edge rusher and special teamer with the Saints to a 1st-team all-pro and Defensive Player of the Year finalist at a new position with a new team and a new coach.
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“My goal every time is to play the best football I can,” Baun said on locker cleanout day a few days after the Super Bowl. “Hopefully, it’s here. I love this place and I really appreciate what they’ve done for my career and my family and just everything. Got a lot of options to weigh and stuff to think about.”
In his fifth NFL season and first year as a full-time starter, Baun was the best player on the NFL’s No. 1 defense and a Super Bowl champion.
Baun had 3 ½ sacks, an interception, five forced fumbles, four pass breakups and 11 tackles for loss during the regular season. His 93 solo tackles were 4th-most in the NFL He added two interceptions, three pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and two tackles for loss in a remarkable postseason performance.
His interception of Patrick Mahomes deep in Chiefs territory in the second quarter of the Super Bowl set up Jalen Hurts’ TD pass to A.J. Brown two plays later as the Eagles roared to a 40-22 win in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.
When the Eagles signed Baun to a modest one-year, $3.5 million contract last March, nobody could have imagined any of this.
Vic Fangio had seen on tape that Baun gave the Saints some good snaps the few times he lined up as an off-ball linebacker, and on Day 1 of OTAs, that’s where he lined up with the starting defense. He solidified his hold on a starting spot with an outstanding training camp and once the season he and Nakobe Dean clicked as the most productive pair of Eagles linebackers in a generation.
“It’s all about development,” Baun said late in the season. “I didn’t come into the league knowing I’d be good at inside linebacker. I knew it’d take time. There were tough times at times, but I kept my head down and kept working.
“When I was in New Orleans, I was putting in the time, putting in just the same amount of work as the starters were. Just to prepare for a moment like this, my opportunity. And all I had to do was take advantage and just let it fly.”
As the year went on and it became clear that Baun was legitimately one of the NFL’s best linebackers, his value continued to increase. But Roseman refrained from doing any contract extensions during the season because he doesn’t like upsetting the delicate locker room balance during a potential Super Bowl run.
The risk is losing players you had a chance to keep during the season or having to pay them more if value increases.
But going into the offseason, Baun was the clear No. 1 priority, and Roseman is not in the business of losing 1st-team all-pros.
The Eagles do not have unlimited salary cap resources this offseason, and Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Mekhi Becton and Isaiah Rodgers among others are all also facing free agency, and they won’t all be back.
As of now, the Eagles have eight defensive starters from the Super Bowl under contract for 2025: Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Reed Blankenship and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, along with Baun. And Dean as well.
This won’t be the same defense in 2025, but that’s a pretty good start.
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