Zack Baun: +6500 to win Defensive Player of the Year after contract extension

The reigning champion Philadelphia Eagles re-signed middle linebacker Zack Baun to a three-year, $51 million contract on Wednesday, March 5th.

Baun was a finalist for the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Award, finishing fifth, and he earned a first-team All-Pro honor.

Heading into the 2025 season, Baun is +6500 to win Defensive Player of the Year.

If he wins the award in 2025, he would be the first off-ball linebacker to earn it since 2013, when Carolina Panthers middle linebacker Luke Kuechly won it.

In the 2024 regular season, Baun started all 16 games he appeared in and led the Birds with 151 total tackles, 93 solo tackles, and five forced fumbles. He also had four passes defended, 3.5 sacks, one fumble recovery, one interception, 11 tackles for loss, and five QB hits.

In the advanced stats, Baun allowed the 13th-fewest yards per completion allowed in coverage (7.6 yards) among qualified defensive players, and he had the second-lowest missed tackle percentage out of the top-six most prolific tacklers in 2024 (5.0 percent).

Baun was one of the most compelling stories of the 2024 season as a result of going from an unheralded edge rusher in New Orleans to a star middle linebacker in Philly who ended the season as one of the most important players on the championship-winning team.

Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio certainly saw something in the Wisconsin product that made him a natural fit in the middle of the defense, but Baun's ability to read, react, and execute when in blitz packages and coverage were the main reasons why he earned this lucrative contract.

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