Hey...funny story. Remember when the Philadelphia Eagles made a trade with the Cincinnati Bengals that involved edge rusher Arnold Ebiketie going to Cincy and a 2027 sixth-round pick going to Philly? Yeah, that isn't happening anymore.
NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported that the Bengals are backing out of the trade after verbally agreeing to the trade with the Eagles. Ebiketie did not do any physical with the Bengals, so nothing was official. NFL Network senior insider Ian Rapoport added that Cincinnati would have lost a compensatory third-round pick from the Trey Hendrickson departure in free agency this offseason if the trade had been agreed upon.
That information from Rapoport was shared by Nick Korte in a post Korte made on X. It leaves Eagles fans to wonder if the Bengals didn't know that information, found out, and backed out because of it.
Eagles got screwed out of a draft pick
This is embarrassing for the Bengals organization if they saw that post on social media and decided to back out of the deal. The average fan wouldn't have known that information, but an NFL organization would know the compensatory rules and how it works.
It's an incredibly bad look for Cincinnati and would certain hurt their chances of making another trade in the future. They will have to look elsewhere now to get edge rusher help.
For Philadelphia, it's a tough break because this was completely out of their control. General manager Howie Roseman made a good deal, got a draft pick, and because his trade partner wasn't smart, they lost that pick.
What's worse now is that they have to deal with Ebiketie again, who probably isn't too thrilled about being traded from the Eagles. The hope is that they can handle it professionally, move on from the trade, and play through the 2026 season.
Arnold Ebiketie can still help the Eagles in 2026
It has been an okay season for Ebiketie after signing a one-year contract with the Eagles in the offseason. He has posted 25 tackles, 10 pressures, eight hurries, and two quarterback hits in nine games.
Pro Football Focus gave Ebiketie an overall grade of 60.5, ranking 75th out of 110 eligible edge rushers. They also gave him a pass-rush grade of 52.8 (ranked 104th) and a run-defense grade of 66.2 (ranked 38th).
Ultimately, nothing changes with the lineup or the rotation. Jalyx Hunt, Nolan Smith Jr., and Jonathan Greenard will get most of the reps. A.J. Epenesa and Ebiketie will be filling in as the backups.
The Eagles' pass rush has not been great for most of the season. Going into their Week 9 loss to the New York Giants, they only had 10 sacks in eight games with Smith being the only edge rusher with at least one sack. That changed in the Giants game with 20 pressures, nine quarterback hits, and six sacks.
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It will make things interesting with the Eagles' defense now that Ebiketie is back with the team. Hopefully, he can at least give the edge rushers a boost that they might not have had.
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