The Philadelphia Eagles were set to trade edge rusher Arnold Ebiketie to the Cincinnati Bengals for a 2027 sixth-round pick according to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport. That was until the deal fell reportedly fell through shortly after, per Jordan Schultz.
It's not yet known why the deal was unable to be finalized, but it was alluded to that the Bengals would have to concede a mid-round draft pick as compensation since Ebiketie does count towards the compensatory pick formula. So whether this skipped the eyes of the Bengals' front office or it was for another reason entirely, it's worth noting. A trade for a sixth-round pick is very different from losing a third-rounder on top of that.
The Eagles signed the defensive end this offseason to a one-year, $4.3 million deal to serve as a rotational depth piece in the pass rush room.
However, because of injuries to Jonathan Greenard, Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith, the former Temple Owl and Penn State Nittany Lion played in 48% of the team’s defensive snaps. In nine games this season, Ebiketie has 25 tackles with zero sacks and two quarterback hits.
The 27-year-old was originally a second-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons in 2022 and played four seasons with the team before joining the Eagles as a free agent.
Trading Ebiketie would've also raised the question if Roseman and the Eagles will decide to keep Nolan Smith, an attractive trade candidate for teams to acquire and for Roseman to offload for more draft capital.
Smith would save the team $3 million next season, while his $13.75 million owed would be off the books for Philadelphia while being less than $1 million in dead cap hit this season according to Spotrac.
Roseman still has some potential pieces he can move ahead of the deadline in Riq Woolen, Hollywood Brown and Dallas Goedert.
Will another team come in for Ebiketie or is this a case of the NFL finally catching up to Howie's wizardry?
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