Zack Baun: Highest Graded off ball LB Baun wins DPOTW award [Eagles Baun Thread]

St. Widge said
Except Baun is playing exactly the role that the Saints trained Baun to play and he was a square peg when they moved him to Mike. I get that DA was a terrible head coach, but not everything he did was wrong. At least not when it came to defense. And, IIRC, Anzalone's big problem here was that he could not stay healthy. Kind of similar to T-Rex until his last year here.

It’s interesting how much the FO or coaches are blamed for Saints FAs not being re-signed or having success elsewhere, while the Saints are having a losing season. Previous injuries, depth chart, or a long term deal not offered relevant to the player’s production are usually the reasons why some players aren’t re-signed. For Baun, the narrative is changing from Allen not playing Baun to his strengths to FO can’t evaluate talent once he’s having success in playing the same position as Demario. Neither are accurate since Baun was buried behind 3 LBs in 3 of his 4 seasons as a Saint. Baun was behind: Davis, Alexander, and Anzalone in ‘20; Davis, Alexander, and Werner in ‘21; then, Davis, Werner, and Elliss in ‘22. There wasn’t an opportunity for Baun to see major LB snaps and play to strengths before ‘23 unless there was injuries.

Lost in those stances on why Baun wasn’t re-signed also seems to be the fact that Baun made a FA decision to be a full time starting LB elsewhere. It was his decision to make the best choice for his future. Baun wasn’t going to be a full time starting MLB in New Orleans unless the Saints decided to cut ties with their All-Pro LB, who’s viewed as the top leader of the team, after more consecutive AP seasons. Most teams including playoff teams aren’t moving on from their team’s leader and defense’s best player while aging unless there’s an obvious decline. There’s definitely a case for moving on from Davis if Baun was showing he was ready to take over. But it appears Baun wasn’t at that level yet as mentioned. I think any team would choose the aging All-Pro LB to continue leading the team while he’s still playing at an elite level before choosing the younger LB, who’s in development, before he showed he can be the top LB. That seems to be how Baun’s free agency played out from both sides.