Eagles Signing Saints LB Zack Baun After Early Free-Agent Fireworks
PHILADELPHIA – After bringing back one of his own on a rich contract extension and hitting a pair of free-agency home runs early on Monday, Howie Roseman settled for a solid single by agreeing to a one-year deal for a linebacker.
It wasn’t Patrick Queen or another big name on the free agent, but, hey, expecting the Philadelphia Eagles general manager to break from his philosophy by going all in on a running back and then doing it again for a linebacker, would probably be asking a lot.
So, Roseman and New Orleans Saints linebacker Zack Baun agreed to a one-year deal.
Zack Baun
USA Today
It certainly wasn’t the fireworks the GM delivered by signing pass rusher Bryce Huff and running back Saquon Barkley to big-money deals and extending the contract of Landon Dickerson, which was the biggest annual salary ever given to a guard, but it’s a move for a player who plays a position of need.
The Eagles handed out $88 million combined for Barkley and Huff, so finding and adding a bargain basement player, at least from a financial perspective, makes sense.
Besides, even good teams need single hitters, and maybe Baun can do more than that.
He has found more of a special teams role since entering the league as a third-round pick out of Wisconsin in 2021, but last year he made a career-high six starts, made 30 takes, collected two sacks, and had an interception.
This is more Roseman’s way – not the uncharacteristic signing of a running back like Barkley to a big-money, multiyear deal - find the undervalued player and give him a one-year deal, which is what he did with Baun, who is just 27.
The Eagles still need something more at the position, which includes oft-injured Nakobe Dean, Patrick Johnson, and futures players Julian Okwara, Terrell Lewis, and Brandon Smith.
That something more could come in the draft, where they have talked extensively to Texas A&M’s Edgerring Cooper, know Clemson’s Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. well, and were impressed with North Carolina State’s Payton Wilson at the NFL Scouting Combine.
