Before he got here, he had started 14 games in four years, with a total of one interception, two sacks and six tackles for loss in 62 games, mainly as a backup edge rusher.
Zack Baun was mainly a special teamer in his four years with the Saints, with just 660 defensive snaps in four years - that’s about 10 ½ per game - and nearly 1,300 on special teams.
And there was hardly a free agency frenzy for his services. The Eagles signed Baun in March for one year at $3.5 million, which makes him the 72nd-highest-paid linebacker in the NFL, according to Spotrac.
Look at him now.
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Baun on Thursday morning was one of six Eagles named to the NFC Pro Bowl team. In his first year with the Eagles, his first year as an off-ball linebacker, his first year as a full-time starter.
A truly remarkable story.
“It’s all about development,” Baun said recently. “I didn’t come into the league knowing I’d be good at inside linebacker. I knew it’d take time. There were tough times at times, but I kept my head down and kept working.”
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He’s the first Eagles position player to make a Pro Bowl in his first year as a full-time player since Donovan McNabb in 2000 and the first defensive player since Bill Bradley in 1971.
And he’s only the fourth Eagles off-ball linebacker to make a Pro Bowl in the last 40 years, joining Seth Joyner in 1991 and 1993, William Thomas in 1995 and 1996 and Jeremiah Trotter in 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005.
“When I was in New Orleans, I was putting in the time, putting in just the same amount of work as the starters were,” Baun said.
“Just to prepare for a moment like this, my opportunity. And all I had to do was take advantage and just let it fly.”
Baun is the latest in a long series of players the Eagles have either signed or acquired from the Saints who have had far more success here than in New Orleans. Among the others are Malcolm Jenkins, Darren Sproless, Chauncy Gardner-Johnson, Boston Scott and Patrick Robinson.
It was defensive coordinator Vic Fangio who scouted Baun playing for the Saints and saw his potential based on a minimal number of snaps he saw him play at off-ball.
“The way they adjusted their defense in New Orleans, on occasion, he would end up as an inside linebacker,” Fangio said back in September. “Not very often. And from those few plays, I thought he could do it. Was I going to bet my life savings on it? No. But I had a good feeling he could do it.”
Baun said having a coach who believed in him the way Fangio did was huge.
“He had full trust in me and my abilities,” Baun said. “I think that really helped me in my transition as well. Everybody wants to be wanted, and everyone wants for someone to have a vision for them and a plan, and he definitely had that and it feels really good.”
Baun this year has 3 ½ sacks, an interception, four pass breakups, five forced fumbles, 11 tackles for loss, five quarterback hits and 151 tackles. Among off-ball linebackers, he’s first in forced fumbles, fifth in tackles for loss and second in tackles.
He’s the best defensive player on the NFL’s top-ranked defense.
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