Former New Orleans Saints draft pick already hyped as a steal with his new team

Chris Roling

Former New Orleans Saints draft pick already hyped as a steal with his new team image

It is hard to find fault with the New Orleans Saints for pretty much any reason right now after the team’s hot start to the season. 

But there is one minor thing developing elsewhere that might qualify. 

Said thing is the emergence of linebacker Zack Baun with the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon recently outlined former free agents who already look like steals and Baun is one of the few named: 

“Two games, 24 tackles, two sacks. Baun is on track to absolutely shatter his personal best season. Keep that up, and he'll cost, um, a few pennies more than $3.5 million next season.”

Baun was a third-round pick by the Saints in 2020 who never had the chance to play more than 27 percent of the snaps in a season. Over the first two games with his new team, he played 99 percent and the results speak for themselves. 

To be fair to the Saints, they had some veterans blocking the way to playing time at points and the defense has looked just fine, if not completely underrated, because of the hot start for Derek Carr’s offense. 

Even so, Baun’s story as a third-round success is something the Saints might wish they had back, as that’s the type of lower-cost move panning out that tends to help teams excel. 

 

MORE SAINTS NEWS 

Saints RB Alvin Kamara gets a warning from Eagles defender before Week 3

Derek Carr, Klint Kubiak have Saints going old-school to smash opponents

Taysom Hill injury update: Latest news on New Orleans Saints TE in Week 3

Sean Payton's too-complicated play calls are already hurting another team

New Orleans Saints' throttling of Dallas Cowboys left Jerry Jones stunned

 

 

Chris Roling

Chris Roling Photo

Chris Roling has covered the NFL since 2010 with stints at Bleacher Report, USA TODAY Sports Media Group and others. Raised a Bengals fan in the '90s, the Andy Dalton era was smooth sailing by comparison. He graduated from the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University and remains in Athens.