Not long before the New Orleans Saints hosted the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3, former Saints draft pick Zack Baun was hailed as one of the biggest steals of the offseason.
It turns out that was a hint—Baun had himself a revenge game in New Orleans.
During his first two games with the Eagles, Baun had put up 24 tackles and two sacks over the course of big snap counts he never had with the Saints.
Against the Saints on Sunday, it was Baun who led all defenders in the game with 13 total tackles, nine of them solo efforts. He played a role in holding Alvin Kamara to 3.3 yards per carry on 26 attempts, Derek Carr to just 142 passing yards and a Saints offense that had dropped 40-plus points in each of its first two dominant wins to just 12 points—at home.
Considering Baun earned just $3.5 million on the open market, Saints brass might’ve been kicking themselves from the sidelines on Sunday as the unexpected revenge game unfolded.
Sometimes players just need a change of scenery, of course. But that doesn’t completely remove the sting of seeing a former third-round pick go and excel elsewhere and then play a major role in a key loss.
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