The Associated Press All-Pro team released Friday morning. Special teams ace J.T. Gray was the only New Orleans Saints player to make either first or second team. There are two former Saints defenders, however, who made first-team All Pro.
Zack Baun earned this honor in his first season with the Philadelphia Eagles, and Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson made his first All-Pro after years of consistently producing high sack numbers.
What makes Baun’s rapid ascension so interesting is he isn’t taking the route many thought he would take after leaving New Orleans. The belief was the Saints wasted Baun’s talent by trying to force him into being an off-ball linebacker.
That wasn’t true. Baun played off the ball for the Eagles and immediately announced his presence to the league with 15 tackles in the season-opener in Brazil. That was one of eight double-digit tackle games for Baun in 2024, one of which came against the Saints.
Baun can obviously play off-ball linebacker, but the Saints just didn’t know how to bring it out of him.
Hendrickson showcased the talent in his final year with New Orleans, and the Saints just decided not to pay him, wrongly assuming he was a flash in the pan, a one-year wonder. He’s gone on to have double-digit sacks in three of his four seasons with the Bengals.
Hendrickson has recorded 17.5 sacks in each of the last two years, and this time it was enough to lead the NFL. The veteran was rewarded with his first first-team All-Pro of his career. Hopefully the Saints will do a better job of retaining talent after they’ve developed it in the future.
