N/S Zack Baun: Top Graded LB / DPOY cand. [Why Isn’t Baun Still a Saint Thread] ………. [Eagles re-sign Baun to 3-yr, $51 million contract on March 5, 2025] (2 Viewers)

Cap space is never the reason why the Saints can’t
re-sign good young players. Especially since Zack Baun is making less than Willie Gay Jr. in total value.
Saints FO have shown that they will create cap room for players’ salaries whenever necessary. What the FO thinks a player is worth isn’t the same as not being able to keep a player because of no cap space.

Lack of starter opportunity due to 2 good LBs hogging all of the starter snaps caused Baun to sign with Philly on a 1 year deal for a shot at Pete Werner salary or more. Baun would still be here if Davis or Werner underperformed in 2023.
 
I'm saying we are an aging team that should have moved on from Davis and Jordan at the end of 2023. We tied ourselves to those players with back end money. We have lost Roach, Oynemata, Baun, and Ellis as front 7 players while regressing on defense. We will likely extend HB until falls off a cliff too.

No doubt we should have moved on from Jordan, but Davis was still playing like one of the top MLBs in the NFL and he's still playing at a very high level so I can see why it would have been hard to move on from him. Can you imagine the outrage had they let Davis go and said that Baun or Ellis was going to be the starting MLB?

I mean I like adding young talent, but you also have to have some veteran guys around to establish the standard you want to set and Demario is really both establishing the standard in the locker room and doing it on the field.
 
Who cares if he was the highest graded LB. And we all know the Dennis Allen misused him, let him go, etc.... Allen is gone, Baun is not on the team neither is Hendrickson, Ellis, and any other guy that Payton and Allen let go. No use in crying over spilled milk. Only thing to look forward to is any free agents the team can afford (HA!) and the draft. Build around one of the young guys, replace Olave because he's done. Just my 1 cent because inflation is a bee-otch
 
DA didn't decide not to sign Baun. Baun took about the same money we offered to go to the Eagles because he had a starting spot open there and he was going to be behind Davis and Werner here.

I think calling the Saints the Jets after losing a couple players and a few mediocre to bad seasons is an emotional overreaction.

The mistake made was choosing to continue to act like a contender and keep older players when they likely should have moved on from older players. That's what happened with Baun and Ellis.
Not being emotional, but OK. It’s a broad brush statement and was acknowledged with the post. However, the Saints have not been trending toward not being like the Jets for the last few years.

Getting rid of DA was a good step toward changing that. Doing a better job of drafting and keeping more of the right guys in the building will be important as well.
 
DA has a complicated scheme. Requiring multiple reads. Hard for younger players to step in. Baun never got to pin his ears back and go very often. And his in-game reps were very minimal.
 
They always say it’s best to get rid of a player a year earlier than later.
I think Michael Thomas, Roby and Lattimore are examples of the Saints moving on when it’s time or earlier while they can. We lacked WR depth in the other half of the WR depth chart afterwards but didn’t further commit cap to a severely injury prone, former celebrated star receiver. Olave, Shaheed, and Taylor immediately emerged in a way that Baun didn’t yet as a complete player. Taylor stepped up so early that he caused the Saints to move on from 3 DBs overall including Gardner-Johnson.

Moving on from Davis while he’s coming off top 5 LB seasons was pretty much impossible. He’s still one of the best in the league and wasn’t missing games or declining compared to other vets we moved on from.

Moving on from an aging top player seems to vary by position. Pass rush and LB positions aren’t easily replaceable compared to WR and CB. In the Saints case, younger players emerge and outperform vets at the latter positions more often.
 
What a freaking waste of a third round draft pick to have this guy playing special teams and then for him to go to another team and ball out.
 
The bigger problem is the salary cap issues forcing us to keep aging veterans while letting young talent we developed walk.
The cap is finally got us in between a rock and a hard place. It is good to see they took a step in the right direction by trading Lattimore. Lattimore was getting paid a ton and was disgruntled to the point that the trade had to be made. I guess it will take a good two years to get it under control.
 
It was not a decision between Davenport and Hendrickson. It was M. Williams and Hendrickson. Both were going to be free agents and neither would sign a deal Loomis could afford due to cap issues. With Williams being a safety his Franchise tag cost was much lower than the DE tag cost so he got the tag and Hendrickson moved on.
You are right now I remember,thanks. Sad thing is we ended up losing both. Well all three actually.
 
A defensive coach who couldn't get the most out of Ellis or Baun?
Elliss had 78 total tackles and 7 sacks, still career high, as the 3rd LB in his contract year with the Saints. The HC got the most out of him as a 7th round LB3 which led to a big contract with ATL.

Baun began to be utilized in the same way as Elliss in the second half of 2023 after the fact. But thats when Baun began to emerge into a good defensive player. LB talent stonewalled him in LB snaps in his first 3 Saints seasons because of where his development was at as a LB. Baun wasn’t producing like Philly Baun when he started some games at Mike and Will in place of injured Davis/Werner in ‘21-‘23.

Baun showed good pass rushing skills in 2023 more than sideline to sideline LB potential. He wasn’t pushing Werner for snaps in Base Defense. Judging by how high the Saints are on Werner, he would’ve been waiting forever for a starting opportunity.
 

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