Untraditional Eagles signing rewarded as one of the best offseason moves

This offseason for the Philadelphia Eagles, in general, was somewhat unorthodox compared to the franchise's past.

In previous offseasons, the Eagles have gone for at least one home run ball with a free agent signing or a trade. Instead, they traded away two players and signed all 12 of their free agents to small one-year deals. It felt almost underwhelming for the team, but the goal is to start saving as much money as possible for their younger players who are close to being ready for contract extensions on their rookie deals.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has a plan, and this is all part of the new direction the team is going. Roseman even rewarded some of his players with contract extensions. One of those extensions is being praised as the team's best offseason move, and it's at a position Roseman usually doesn't re-sign at.

Linebacker Zack Baun being brought back is a win for the Eagles

CBS Sports writer Cody Benjamin shared what he believed to be the best offseason move by each NFC team. For the Eagles, Benjamin praised them for re-signing Zack Baun to a three-year, $51 million contract to stay in Philadelphia.

"The Eagles are traditionally blockbuster movers under Howie Roseman, but they took their financial lumps after dominating Super Bowl LIX. It's why they actually deserve a lot of credit for retaining Baun, the rangy heartbeat of Vic Fangio's championship defense. Fellow linebacker Jihaad Campbell, the club's first-round pick, could prove just as impactful down the road."

After never having more than 30 tackles in a season in his first four years, Baun exploded onto the scene with his 151 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, five forced fumbles, four pass deflections, 3.5 sacks, one interception, and one fumble recovery in 16 games. Baun made the Pro Bowl, was selected to the first-team All-Pro, and was fifth in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year.

His PFF grades were exceptional among other linebackers as he had the second-best overall grade with 90.1. Baun was considered the best coverage linebacker in the NFL with a coverage grade of 91.7.

What makes this move unusual for Roseman is that he traditionally doesn't re-sign linebackers to big contracts. He usually lets them walk in free agency and either turns to the NFL Draft or what he did with Baun and signs them to a small deal right away.

Roseman values linemen more than other position on the team, outside of the quarterback position. This was a big step for him to reward Baun, a linebacker, with a big deal. That shows the kind of impact Baun makes on a team.

Baun will be even more important than ever entering the 2025 season, as the team has Nakobe Dean and Jihaad Campbell not 100% healthy entering training camp, and a young second-year man in Jeremiah Trotter Jr. filling in. Slowly, but surely, Baun has taken on a bigger role in this defense as a leader, and everyone will be looking at him to take over.

The expectations are different this year for Baun as he is no longer being overlooked. Now the pressure is on to repeat his 2024 performance, and he appears ready for it.