Eagles ‘Perfectionist’ Is Not Shying Away From Increased Expectations

Zack Baun got big money to put together a sequel to his spectacular 2024-25 season.

Jan 12, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun (53) before kick off against the Green Bay Packers in an NFC wild card game at Lincoln Financial Field. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - Zack Baun did it all last season.

The Eagles’ first-team All-Pro linebacker hit the ground running with two sacks in Sao Paulo, Brazil against the Green Bay Packers in the season opener and didn’t stop making plays through a Super Bowl LIX rout of Kansas City when he made a diving interception of Patrick Mahomes.

Jalen Carter is the most talented defensive player in Philadelphia but the best defender on the NFL’s No. 1 ranked, Lombardi Trophy-winning stop unit was Baun. Including the playoffs, Baun amassed 182 tackles, 3 ⅓ sacks, 3 interceptions, 7 pass breakups, 6 forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries in 20 overall games. 

The reward for that incredible season was a new three-year, $51 million contract with the implicit instructions to do it again, something Baun is not shying away from.

“I think about what we did in one year with so many new pieces, coaches and players included, and I think about my own personal development in that same sense, where if I can move off the ball and play inside linebacker and do what I did,” Baun said.

"And if that was my starting point, I'm excited for this team and this defense moving forward. I'm really excited to continue to build on what we did last year."

Eagles linebacker Zack Baun meets with reporters for the first time since signing a three-year, $51 million deal to remain in Philadelphia. / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

The building will have to come without a host of key contributors from last season including Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, and Brandon Graham up from to Oren Burks at linebacker and Darius Slay and C.J. Gardner-Johnson on the back end.

“I think the biggest part [of moving forward] is the pieces we have in the building,” Baun said. “That’s a credit to [GM] Howie [Roseman] and those guys upstairs of building a solid foundation of a base of a team where you can have guys leave in free agency, and still have a solid base there. 

“I’m really excited for the pieces we have.”

On a personal level, it might seem pie in the sky to the outside world that Baun could improve on his 2024-25 performance.

For Baun he’s chasing the plays he missed.

“I look at my highlights sometimes. It’s hard for me and my football mind to look at the highlights, but not think about the plays that I missed during that game or after the game,” he explained. “We win the game by 30 points, and all I can think about are the two plays I let up or the three plays I had bad coverage. 

“So I’m a perfectionist in that way.”

A better Baun is a scary proposition for the rest of the NFL.

“I felt like towards the end of the season, I was playing so confidently that I knew I was going to make a play,” Baun said. “… I’m excited to build off that confidence and continue to find myself in this scheme.”

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