Re-signing Zack Baun is an Eagles priority ahead of free agency. There might also be salary-cap casualties.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Eagles have made re-signing Zack Baun a priority ahead of free agency, NFL sources said.

While that may not come as a surprise considering Baun’s success in 2024 — his first full-time season at off-ball linebacker — the Eagles have long undervalued the position. Baun was acquired on the relative cheap last offseason under that premise.

But as general manager Howie Roseman made clear when asked about the 28-year-old at the NFL scouting combine, the Eagles also haven’t had an off-ball linebacker perform at his level in some time.

“Obviously a phenomenal season — first-team All-Pro, top-five defensive player of the year. Tremendous person, tremendous character,” Roseman said of Baun on Tuesday. “Made a huge difference during the regular season, made a huge difference during the playoffs, made a huge difference in the Super Bowl.

“And so, those are guys that you obviously want to keep. There’s no doubt about it, we’ll make a concerted effort to try to keep him here. But … obviously he has an opportunity to hit free agency.”

The market will likely dictate the terms even if negotiations are already underway. Baun has an opportunity to cash in — maybe his only one to get a lucrative, long-term extension — and has representation that will look to max out its client’s earning potential.

But Baun has openly expressed his desire to stay in Philadelphia and play in defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s scheme, which he has conceded played a role in his career revival. Does that mean he’s going to budge on guarantees, annual salary, and years?

It’s unlikely. But Baun and his agents could agree to a team-friendly structure that helps the Eagles as they navigate an offseason in which they’re slated to have 17 free agents and several other veterans who could become salary-cap casualties.

Either way, it’s going to cost Roseman more than he has ever been willing to spend at the position — perhaps in the $15 million-a-year range — and could lead to cuts elsewhere.

“It’s probably not going to look like maybe the [way] conventional wisdom thinks it should look,” Roseman said of the offseason. He added: “When I look at some of the decisions that we have to do … we’re going to have to trade off in some other areas.”

» READ MORE: Will Howie Roseman repeat the Brian Dawkins mistake with Zack Baun as the Eagles approach free agency?

Roseman didn’t offer clues on what those trade-offs may end up being, but of the Eagles’ four starting unrestricted free agents — defensive tackle Milton Williams, defensive end Josh Sweat, guard Mekhi Becton, and Baun — it seems implausible that he’ll be able to keep all of them.

He used a layered cake as a metaphor for the offseason with the Eagles continuing to build upon their base, but with certain layers below having to come out.

“Everything we’re doing is to try to keep as many good players as we possibly can under contract going forward,” Roseman said. “And it gets challenging as you have more players making a lot of money. … Younger players are part of that process. They’re going to play.”

Last offseason, Roseman said something similar and the young players — particularly on defense — played and played well. Outside linebacker Nolan Smith and inside linebacker Nakobe Dean showed significant improvement over their previous seasons, and rookie cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean came in and contributed right away.

The Eagles have young backups they’ve drafted who could step in if any of the aforementioned free agents were to leave. Jordan Davis is the most obvious candidate to take most of Williams’ snaps. He actually saw his playing time decrease and was on the field only 37% of time in 2024.

The Eagles will want to get a return on their first-round investment, even if Roseman decides not to pick up Davis’ fifth-year option later this spring. But can he offset the loss of Williams, especially as a pass rusher, where he has struggled the most?

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If not, Moro Ojomo is another option, and the draft is said to be deepest at the interior defensive line. Roseman has to also consider the record-breaking contract extension that All-Pro Jalen Carter will likely warrant next offseason.

All those reasons add up to the unlikelihood that the GM will be able to retain 25-year-old Williams, not to mention his market value — based on production and positional worth — which could exceed all other Eagles free agents.

Sweat will be tough to keep, as well. Premium edge rushers rarely reach free agency and the soon-to-be 28-year old is coming off a rebound season in which he notched 10 ½ total sacks — 2 ½ of which came in Super Bowl LIX.

Besides Smith, the Eagles also have Jalyx Hunt to help replace Sweat. But if Brandon Graham retires, Roseman will have more work to do at the position. This year’s crop of free agents isn’t expected to be among the best in recent memory with the salary cap expected increase to around $280 million.

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Last offseason, Roseman was active. He gave out one top-tier contract to defensive end Bryce Huff — his lone whiff — and mid-to-low-tier contracts to running back Saquon Barkley, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Becton, and Baun, among others.

“We felt like the opportunity was in last year’s free agency to sign some guys who could make a difference for our team, knowing that this year was going to be mostly maintenance and trying to get guys back,” Roseman said. “Obviously, the play of a bunch of those guys is now affecting some of our decisions.”

Becton moved from tackle to guard and thrived under offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. If other teams still view him as a starting-caliber tackle, it could price the Eagles out. But they return all four of their other starters and have young options (Tyler Steen or Trevor Keegan) if Becton were to walk.

There are also other avenues to finding another right guard.

Baun was just the latest example of Roseman finding a competitive advantage over other teams. He was mostly an edge rusher with the Saints, but when he arrived last season on a one-year, $4 million deal, Fangio saw an off-ball linebacker.

He became the Eagles’ first All-Pro inside linebacker since Jeremiah Trotter in 2000. By coincidence, Trotter’s son, Jeremiah Jr., would be a candidate to replace Baun if he were to depart. But the uncertainty of Dean, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last month, is another reason to keep Baun.

And Roseman isn’t keen on losing good players, and has shown evolution on positional value as he did last offseason with Barkley.

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“Special players are hard to find, and guys who make a difference — you talk about Saquon — those guys are unique,” Roseman said. “Those guys are huge parts of championship teams, big-time players and big games, and so you got to balance that, too. And no matter what position you’re talking about on the field, it’s hard to find difference makers.”

There could potentially be one difference maker available. Browns defensive end Myles Garrett has requested a trade. Cleveland GM Andrew Berry said Tuesday he had no plans to move his best player. But that didn’t stop Roseman and other GMs from being asked about their interest in the 29-year-old future Hall of Famer.

Roseman declined to talk about Garrett on the podium, but earlier during an interview with Eagles beat reporters, he was asked about the parameters that needed to be in place to trade away a first-rounder for a player of his profile.

“Anytime that you’re talking about giving up a high pick and a lot of money for a player, it’s also got to fit where you are as a team,” he said. “It’s got to fit where you are from a cap perspective, all those things have to match up. And so we look at all those.

“There’s a lot of attractive items out there, you know, and we spend a lot of time talking about every position and every good player, and we’re selfish. We want everyone, but at the end of the day, it’s just not the position we’re in right now.”

The Eagles have pushed more money into future years than any other team in the NFL. It reflects owner Jeffrey Lurie’s commitment to winning and his urgency to win now. As Roseman noted, the core of the roster is full of players in their prime years on long-term contracts.

But that will eventually require some cost-cutting.

“We feel like that if we can do this gradually, there will never be a year where we’re going to have to kind of start with cutting a ton of players,” Roseman said. “So I think we’re trying to gradually implement young players, and the key to that is bringing in good players.”

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The Eagles’ last four drafts have been among the best in the league. But Roseman knows that one bad free-agency period (see: 2023) could set back the franchise. He might be flying high from his second title, but he still bears the scars of past mistakes, along with the fading mark from the beer can that hit him in the forehead during the Super Bowl parade.

“Certainly we’d like to keep everyone,” Roseman said, “but at the end of the day, we’re going to have to make some decisions this year, next year, every year, going forward, to try to balance, who are the guys that we want to make every effort to keep, who are the guys we’d really like to keep but may have some better opportunities.”

Baun is one they plan to make every effort to keep.