Eagles Zack Baun predicted to land massive pay raise in 2025 free agency

Zack Baun’s 2024 NFL story is an incredible one. It’s extremely rare for a linebacker’s breakout season to arrive at the age of 27, but Baun has performed at an All-Pro level in his first season with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Baun signed with the Eagles for backup money — one year, $1.6 million — this offseason, meaning he’s due what could be the largest pay raise among all pending 2025 free agents. He was just named NFC Defensive Player of the Week, and was all over the field once again in Thursday night’s win over the Washington Commanders, racking up a game-high 15 total tackles, including a clutch stop on Jayden Daniels on a key fourth-and-2 run in the fourth quarter:

Would love nothing more than Zack Baun to become the first player to ever get a contract extension in the middle of a gamepic.twitter.com/wv04nPrDcs

The good news is that Howie Roseman and the Eagles have found an absolute gem in Baun, who’s thriving as an inside linebacker in Vic Fangio’s scheme. The bad news is that Rosseman likely wasn’t planning to spend big at the position, at least not until Nakobe Dean’s contract year in 2025.

Those plans have likely changed, as Baun is expected to strike it rich if he’s allowed to hit the open market. Marcus Mosher of the 33rd Team recently predicted that his next contract will hit $10 million in average annual value. Here was Mosher’s take on what his next deal could look like:

“The higher-end deal would be $13.5 million in average annual value, which is what Patrick Queen received this offseason from the Steelers. However, Queen was a much younger player (24) with first-round draft capital. Instead, look for a deal similar to what Bobby Okereke received from the Giants, which came in at $10 million AAV … If Baun continues to post huge numbers in Fangio’s defense, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him reach $10 million per season on the open market.”

Baun was a third-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2020, but never had more than 30 tackles in a season in more of a situational pass rushing role. He’s already amassed more tackles in 10 games with the Eagles (102) than he had in four seasons with the Saints (88).

It’s possible that Philly could bring Baun back on a more team-friendly extension, but the clock is ticking, and the price appears to be going up with each passing week.

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