Why Zack Baun’s contract makes sense, and where Howie Roseman and the Eagles should look next

Aldous Huxley famously said of orthodoxy that it learns not and neither does it forget. It is a pertinent piece of criticism as we consider Howie Roseman’s brave new world.

Once upon a time, it was said that a smart general manager saves resources at running back and linebacker in order to reinvest them elsewhere. Yet, there was Roseman on Tuesday and Wednesday: cap-strapped, over-leveraged, shaking the couch cushions for loose change, and also handing Saquon Barkley an additional two years and $41.2 million and re-signing Zack Baun to a contract worth $51 million over three.

Turns out, the smartest general managers are the ones who recognize the exceptions to the rules.

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Baun is unquestionably that. In fact, the Eagles are betting he’ll break more rules than one. The conventional wisdom says that players who spend their first four years in part-time roles won’t spend their next four years as All-Pros. It says there is risk in guaranteeing $34 million to a player who will turn 29 next season. It says that they could have gone out and tried to find the next Zack Baun rather than paying this one.

Instead, the Eagles listened to much wiser words.

Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

Baun was more than a linebacker for the Eagles this season. He was a three-level, two-phase player, equally impactful as a run defender, pass defender, and pass rusher. His 11 tackles for losses ranked second on the team. He was fifth in sacks and sixth in quarterback pressures. He was credited with five forced fumbles and four passes defensed. The skill set isn’t going to suddenly evaporate.

“Those are guys that you obviously want to keep,” Roseman said recently. “There’s no doubt about it.”

Baun’s value is deeper than the skills. He is a foundational player in terms of the identity of the defense. The difficulty of roster-building is projecting the symbiotic relationships that exist between positions. As good as Baun was, would he have been less good if he hadn’t been playing behind three space hogs at defensive tackle? If so, how much less? Whatever the delta, how much was attributable to Milton Williams? What is the calculation if Baun returns and Williams walks?

The Eagles made clear how they see it: Baun makes the other guys better.

» READ MORE: Murphy: Howie Roseman takes running it back to the extreme, signing Saquon Barkley again

He is like Barkley in that regard. The best defenses are greater than the sum of their parts. It is players like Baun who create the magnifying effect. It would have been a gross underestimation of that quality for the Eagles to think that he could be more easily replaced than a player at a more premium position.

As was the case with Barkley, elite players belong in a bucket all their own. Their impact transcends their position. True, it makes less sense at linebacker to overpay for less-than-elite production than it does at other positions. But Baun’s impact and production are at a level where such rules do not apply to him.

The Eagles have plenty more work to do. The edge rush will need to be a priority, especially if the recently released Darius Slay does not return at cornerback. As with linebackers and the guys in the trenches, there is a relationship between cover men and the pass rush. The better the pass coverage, the more margin of error for the pass rush. The better the pass rush, the more margin of error for the pass coverage.

The Eagles ranked in the bottom five in the league in pressure percentage (28th) and hurry percentage (32nd), according to Pro Football Reference. Yet they were league-average in sack percentage and elite in all of the pass-completion metrics. The relationship worked. How much will change if the Eagles have a cornerback less capable than Slay proved to be in 2024?

Those aren’t leading questions. They are genuine unknowns. Maybe Bryce Huff becomes the player the Eagles envisioned. Maybe Nolan Smith continues to get better. If both of those things happen, maybe the Eagles can more than compensate for a weaker link alongside Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Or, maybe they can find a way to bring Josh Sweat back, thanks to Roseman and his magic millions.

Those clamoring for Myles Garrett have their heads in the right place. But it’s hard to see how the dollars will make sense. If not Garrett, the trade market is still a place to keep a close eye.

The uncertainty feels a lot less daunting with Baun back in the fold. The NFL’s annual offseason champs are again looking like winners.