Eagles Contingency Plan If Star Linebacker Leaves Could Come Early In Draft

The thinking was that the Eagles need to get a deal done with linebacker Zack Baun before he hits free agency on March 12, because that is when the money gets silly and teams with plenty to spend will be frothing at the mouth to bring in one of the league’s top five best defensive players last season.

The money may get so silly, that general manager Howie Roseman will have to let Baun walk out the door. The Eagles' situation at that position is further muddied with the unknown availability of Nakobe Dean, whose knee injury on Wild Card weekend may prevent him from starting the season on time.

Contingency plans are being made as you read this, with the front office machine running day and night as free agency arrives on March 12 and the first round of the draft on April 24.

Perhaps this - at long last - will be the year Roseman dips into the draft for a linebacker in the first round. It’s the 32nd and last pick of the draft, the punishment for winning Super Bowl LIX, so maybe?

Of course, there's always the strong poossiblity that Roseman will move out of the first round anyway and collect another draft pick.

Nov 16, 2024; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Jihaad Campbell (11) celebrates after sacking Mercer quarterback Whitt Newbauer (8) at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“When you look at linebackers, it's not a great off-the-ball linebacker year,” said NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah. “Howie, he's not going to take a linebacker in the first round, but if somehow Jihaad Campbell were to get there - I can't imagine he would - but he's a rangy, versatile, athletic dude who can play off the ball, on the ball. He can run like crazy. He's got a bunch of upside as a rusher, too.”

One NFL Media mock drafter has Roseman taking Campbell at No. 32.

Campbell is 6-3, 244 pounds, and hails from Erial, N.J., in Camden County, about an hour slightly northeast of Philadelphia. And he went to Alabama, a school Roseman has mined the past few drafts. Last year, he had 117 tackles with five sacks and an interception.

Other linebackers Roseman cold target on Day 2 or beyond, include Pooh Paul from Ole Miss, Ohio State’s Cody Simons, Oregon’s Jeffrey Bassa, Oregon, and Clemson’s Barrett Carter, Clemson. Jeremiah had that group ranked as potential third-round picks.

Linebackers and defensive linemen, another position the Eagles are expected to draft, will have their on-field workouts on Thursday as the NFL Scouting Combine gets underway in Indianapolis this week. it will be televised beginning at 3 p.m. on the NFL Network.

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