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Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 3/22/25.
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2025 NFL free agency signings: Ranking best deals, contracts - ESPN
1. Linebacker Zack Baun re-signs with the Eagles. The deal: Three years, $51 million ($34 million guaranteed). The Eagles signing Baun to a one-year, $1.6 million deal, converting him to an off-ball linebacker and then getting a near-Defensive Player of the Year performance, is one of the best transactions and development coaching jobs you’ll see in the NFL. Now it’s time for the Eagles to pay market rate (or in this case, perhaps less) for Baun. And he’s worth it. Despite only one interception, Baun allowed minus-26 EPA as the nearest defender in 2024, the best mark for a linebacker by a mile per NFL Next Gen Stats (next best was minus-11). He did that while allowing 0.6 yards per coverage snap, sixth best among linebackers. He ranked ninth in run stop win rate among off-ball linebackers with at least 10 starts (41%). And he forced five fumbles and recorded 3.5 sacks. He even recorded another forced fumble and two more picks in the playoffs, including one in the Super Bowl. And he finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. So yes, heckuva year. The Eagles, who ranked second in EPA per play on defense this season, wanting to bring him back makes all the sense in the world. We saw a lot of linebacker re-signings — and they were pricey. If Nick Bolton and Jamien Sherwood are getting $15 million per year, then giving Baun $17 million per year after the season he just had is a slam dunk. And $17 million per year isn’t a top-of-market deal. A reasonable comparison could be Tremaine Edmunds in 2023, who was coming off a breakout season (but not as good as Baun’s 2024) and got what would be the equivalent of $22.4 million per year from the Bears. Not to mention Roquan Smith’s deal in 2023, Fred Warner’s in 2021 or Shaquille Leonard’s in 2021, which would equate in the current salary cap to $24.8 million, $29.1 million and $30.1 million deals annually. Baun at $17 million per year is a great price.
Ten best moves of the 2025 NFL offseason so far: Bears, Bengals, Rams among teams trending up - NFL.com
8) Philadelphia Eagles re-sign Zack Baun. Philadelphia has never been crazy about paying big money to off-ball linebackers, which tells you how important Baun is to this team’s success. In giving Baun a three-year, $51 million deal (with $34 million guaranteed), general manager Howie Roseman sent the message that he’s once again not afraid to break trends. Roseman went out and signed running back Saquon Barkley last offseason after years of not placing high value on that position (and gave Barkley a raise this offseason). The Eagles clearly couldn’t have known what they had in Baun when he arrived on a one-year, $3.5 million deal last year — especially since he...
