All-Pro LB Zack Baun on his breakout with Eagles: ‘They had a vision for me’

NEW ORLEANS — The first frenetic hours of NFL free agency are usually reserved for the biggest paychecks, the $10 million a year headliners that empty teams’ wallets as the biggest offseason needs.

After four unremarkable years with the Saints, linebacker Zack Baun signed with the Eagles last March for a modest one-year deal worth $3.5 million. But what stands out now is when he signed.

“We signed him in the first five minutes of free agency,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said Monday, less than a week before his team will face the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. “He was a priority. We wanted to make him feel like a priority, so he would come here.”

Baun, 28, is one of the unlikeliest stars in this year’s Super Bowl, back where he started in New Orleans, playing for a championship on the field he called home until this season. Every year with the Saints, he played more snaps on special teams than he did on defense, a sub-package rotational pass-rusher who totaled 88 tackles and two sacks in four years.

He’s found himself with the Eagles, leading a resurgent defense that has Philadelphia in its second Super Bowl in three years. He had 150 tackles this season alone, forcing five fumbles, finishing with 3.5 sacks and earning not only a Pro Bowl nod but first-team All-Pro honors.

“They had a vision for me,” said Baun, easy to spot with his head shaved and a goatee. “An opportunity, and that’s all that I wanted. Nobody told me I was a starter. I wasn’t given anything. I had to work for my spot, and I didn’t care if it was inside or outside.”

The emergence of new starters like Baun is why the Eagles ranked No. 1 in the NFL in total defense and No. 2 in scoring defense, a huge leap from the struggling defense that left Philadelphia disappointed with an early playoff exit in 2023.

“I just saw a guy, I liked the way he moved, I liked his instincts, and I thought he could be an ILB,” first-year Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said.

Baun had been an edge rusher in college, getting 12.5 sacks his senior year at Wisconsin, enough to make him a third-round pick with the Saints in 2020. But that success didn’t translate at the NFL level, and he went into free agency unsure of where his future would be, either on the field or in what uniform.

“Like a lot of guys, it’s all about fit,” said fellow linebacker Oren Burks. “He found a great fit here in Fangio’s system, and it’s allowed him to be a playmaker. The way he’s handled this year, from a professional standpoint, he’s been on top of everything. I’m not surprised. I saw him making plays in OTAs so I knew he had the ability to do it at the highest level.”

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Now he’s one of five finalists for NFL Defensive Player of the Year, the newcomer in a group of five that’s mostly household names: edges Myles Garrett (Browns), T.J. Watt (Steelers) and Trey Hendrickson (Bengals) and corner Patrick Surtain (Broncos).

“It’s really cool just even to be mentioned with those guys,” Baun said. “Those are guys who have been playing in this league a long time and won Defensive Player of the Year in the past.”

Sunday could be Baun’s last game in an Eagles uniform. He has elevated himself to be one of the NFL’s most coveted free agents at any position, and has probably gotten too expensive to stay in Philadelphia. One remarkable season will end on the biggest of stages Sunday night, and with any luck, he’ll be among the first free agents signed in March, this time with a much bigger salary.

“Everyone wants to be wanted, and that was the Eagles for me,” he said. “Howie was on me right away, Nick [Sirianni] had a plan for me from the start and that meant a lot to me.”

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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