Cardinals Named 'Ideal Fit' For Eagles Star In Line For $19 Million

Will the Eagles lose the breakout star this offseason?

Dec 15, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Detailed view of an Arizona Cardinals helmet at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Eagles made a near-perfect move last offseason. 

Philadelphia added linebacker Zack Baun on a one-year, $3.5 million deal after spending four years as a role player with the New Orleans Saints. He was a superstar for the Eagles in 2024. Baun earned his first Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro nods. He also was a finalist for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award. 

Unfortunately, he will be a free agent this offseason and it's unknown if he will be back. The Eagles certainly should want to have him back. But, the Eagles surely won’t be the only team that has an interest in him. Pro Football Focus’ Jonathon Macri called the Arizona Cardinals an “ideal” fit for him.

“LB Zack Baun: Ideal IDP landing spot: Arizona Cardinals,” Macri said. “Let’s assume that Philadelphia is out of consideration – hopefully it's not – because even though that would be the ideal landing spot/re-sign, we’re coming up with alternate scenarios for this article.

“Maintaining Baun’s LB1 status becomes more difficult the further he gets from the Eagles, but sending him to Arizona, led by Jonathan Gannon – a former Eagles defensive coordinator who runs a similar enough scheme, where Baun could continue to thrive. Both the Eagles and Cardinals ran exactly 70% of their regular season defensive snaps in zone coverage, and Arizona’s 2024 LB1, Kyzir White, owned a 10.5% blitz rate compared to 10% from Baun in 2024.”

Arizona needs to bolster its defense and adding someone like Baun could do that. He’s projected to land a two-year deal worth over $19 million this offseason by Spotrac. That’s a deal that the Eagles should be able to afford. Hopefully, they don’t end up losing him.

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