The Arnold Ebiketie trade got deadline day moving on Tuesday. The Philadelphia Eagles are sending the edge rusher to the Cincinnati Bengals for a 2027 sixth-round pick, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport first reported, and ESPN listed it as the first deal of Nov. 10.
It isn’t a blockbuster. It does tell you where both teams are headed with the 4 p.m. ET deadline a few hours away. Cincinnati is 6-2, riding a four-game winning streak and getting ready for a Sunday night showdown with Pittsburgh for the AFC North lead. Philadelphia is 2-7, has lost seven straight and traded its best interior defender less than 24 hours earlier.
Arnold Ebiketie trade terms and contract
| Detail | What we know |
|---|---|
| Bengals get | EDGE Arnold Ebiketie |
| Eagles get | 2027 sixth-round pick |
| Contract | One year, $7.3 million, $4.3 million fully guaranteed (signed in March) |
| 2026 stats | 9 games, about two dozen tackles, 3 for loss, 2 QB hits, 0 sacks |
| Snap share | Just under 50 percent of Philadelphia’s defensive snaps |
The contract numbers come from The Philadelphia Inquirer. The snap count and quarterback hits come from NBC Sports Boston, which put his tackle total at 25. Yahoo Sports’ live blog listed 23 total tackles and three for loss.
Because Ebiketie is on a one-year deal, Cincinnati isn’t taking on future money. It is a rental for the second half of the season at the cost of a pick that rarely produces a starter.
Who is Arnold Ebiketie?
Ebiketie, 27, played college football at Temple and Penn State. The Falcons drafted him in the second round in 2022, No. 38 overall. By the middle of the 2025 season he had 14.5 career sacks and four forced fumbles in Atlanta, including six sacks in both 2023 and 2024, according to Falcons on SI. Five of his six sacks in 2024 came over the final six games.
Philadelphia signed him in free agency in March to add depth on the edge. That plan never really took off. Through nine games with the Eagles, he hadn’t recorded a sack.
So the Bengals aren’t buying a finished product. They’re buying a rotational rusher with two six-sack seasons on his résumé, betting that a change of scenery and a team playing for something can bring that version back.
Why the Bengals made the Arnold Ebiketie trade
Cincinnati’s timing makes sense. Joe Burrow has the offense rolling: he threw three touchdowns and ran for another in the 34-17 win over Atlanta in Madrid, Cincinnati’s fourth straight victory. Our Bengals vs. Falcons recap has the details.
Defense is where depth matters most down the stretch, and edge rusher is a position teams can never have too many of in November and December. Myles Murphy is in the final year of his rookie deal after the Bengals declined his fifth-year option in April, according to his Wikipedia profile, and 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart is only in his second season. Adding a veteran who has produced before gives the defense another body for third downs.
The schedule adds urgency. Steelers at Bengals on Sunday night is a matchup of 6-2 teams, and the winner leaves Week 10 alone in first place in the AFC North. A sixth-round pick for another pass rusher before that game is a low-risk move.
Why the Eagles keep selling
For Philadelphia, this is the second move in two days that points toward 2027.
On Monday, the Eagles traded defensive tackle Jordan Davis to the Jaguars for a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick. Davis had signed a three-year, $78 million extension in the offseason, according to CBS Sports. He told the Inquirer the picks will help the team as it rebuilds.
That word would have been hard to imagine in September. The Eagles started 2-0. Then Jalen Hurts took a cleat to the calf on Oct. 4, was diagnosed with a blood clot and went on injured reserve on Oct. 17, according to the AP. He’s expected to miss the rest of the season. The losing streak hit seven with a 19-11 home loss to the Giants on Sunday, and Nick Sirianni has opened the door to staff changes during the bye. We broke that down in our Eagles losing streak story.
Trading Ebiketie also opens snaps for seventh-round rookie Keyshawn James-Newby, who the Inquirer described as a pleasant surprise this season. For a team out of the race, finding out what young players can do is worth more than a few extra pass-rush reps from a veteran on a one-year deal.
The Jordan Davis grades are the bigger debate
The Ebiketie deal is minor next to the reaction to the Davis trade. ESPN’s Seth Walder gave the Eagles an A and the Jaguars an F, calling the deal “a disaster for Jacksonville,” the Inquirer reported. Walder agreed the 6-2 Jaguars were right to push for a title, but he called a first- and second-round price for a run-stuffing tackle reckless.
Not everyone agrees. Jacksonville general manager James Gladstone said Davis’ impact “can be felt on every down,” and the Jaguars also added safety Jessie Bates III and defensive tackle Davon Godchaux on Monday. Head coach Liam Coen said the three deals made his team better, according to Jaguars.com. Our Jaguars trades breakdown looks at what those deals mean for the AFC race.
ClutchPoints noted Tuesday morning that the size of the Davis package may be stalling the rest of the trade market.
What’s left for Philadelphia before 4 p.m. ET
The Inquirer’s live blog said the most likely outcome is one or two more small moves, though it didn’t rule out something bigger. General manager Howie Roseman has been collecting premium picks across the next three drafts.
The Eagles don’t play again until Nov. 22, when they face the Steelers after their bye. That gives the front office and coaching staff two weeks to settle on what the rest of 2026 is for.
The Bengals don’t have that luxury. Ebiketie will need to learn a new defense in a few practices before a prime-time division game. If he gets home even once on Sunday night, a sixth-round pick will look like money well spent.
Every completed deal is logged in our NFL trade deadline tracker, and we’ll update this story if either team makes another move.
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