Eagles Blockbuster Praised After 'Heckuva Year'

The Philadelphia Eagles haven't handed out a bunch of massive deals like some teams this offseason -- like the New England Patriots -- but that doesn't mean that the team hasn't had a great offseason to this point.

The Eagles have made some great additions like AJ Dillon, Josh Uche, and Azeez Ojulari but their best move might actually be an internal one. Philadelphia struck gold by signing Zack Baun last year after spending a few years as a role player for the New Orleans Saints. Baun turned into a superstar with Philadelphia when put in the right position and the team was able to retain him on a three-year, $51 million deal.

ESPN's Seth Walder took a look at the deals of the offseason so far and gave each one grades. He gave the Baun deal an "A" and had nothing but praise for it.

"Grade: A," Walder said. "The Eagles signing Baun to a one-year, $1.6 million deal, converting him to 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 negative-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 negative-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 -- including one in the Super Bowl -- in the playoffs. 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."