Special Season Took Flight For Eagles Linebacker Against Packers In Brazil

The Philadelphia Eagles had a season that probably only defensive coordinator Vic Fangio saw coming.

Dec 29, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun (53) against the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA – Zack Baun’s trip to the NFL stars began in Brazil. It was the first inkling that the Eagles may have found themselves an All-Pro linebacker that nobody, not fans, media, or even the front office saw coming.

Well, except for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, of course. Fangio talked earlier this season about how general manager Howie Roseman brought him some tape to watch on Baun from his four seasons in New Orleans, as a potential special teams ace and backup outside linebacker.

After viewing the tape, Fangio told the GM Baun could be a starting inside linebacker. Buoyed by his DC's belief in him, Baun took flight against the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 6. He made 15 tackles and two sacks that day.

The Eagles linebacker room revisited that game in preparation for Sunday’s wildcard playoff rematch against the Packers at Lincoln Financial Field, thousands of miles away from Brazil.

“By no means was it a clean game,” said Baun about his liftoff in Sao Paulo. “Lots of mistakes, lots of bad block destruction, bad technique. The plays that I was making was really just running to the ball. So, I’m looking forward to playing a clean game this weekend.”

Still, as teammate and fellow linebacker Nakobe Dean said about Baun’s performance in the opener: “Oh man, he was rolling. I don't think he had that many (in a game) the rest of the year. He was definitely rolling.”

Baun never stopped rolling. He never quite got 15 tackles in a game again, but he came close many times, with 13 two weeks later against the New Orleans Saints, 13 against the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 1, and 14 against the Washington Commanders on Nov. 14.

He finished the year as the team’s top tackler with 92 solo tackles, 150 overall, and 3.5 sacks. He began adding forced fumbles to his resume later in the year, putting up five over the Eagles’ final 10 games.

Baun started all 16 games this year after getting just 14 starts in four years with Saints, who drafted him in the third round in 2020.

The linebacker has already made the Pro Bowl and could very well end up being All-Pro. He should even be a serious candidate for the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, though, for some reason, that seems like a long shot.

Even better from Baun’s perspective, his season should lead to a lucrative, multiyear contract in the offseason when the one-year deal he signed with the Eagles as a free agent expires. Whether or not that happens in Philadelphia remains to be seen.

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