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CINCINNATI — On Tuesday morning, the Cincinnati Bengals agreed to send a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for edge rusher Arnold Ebiketie. Before the 3 p.m. CT trade deadline, they called it off. The deal would have cost them a 2027 third-round compensatory pick, too.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport first reported the agreement. Not long after, Over the Cap’s Nick Korte posted on X that Philadelphia had signed Ebiketie as a compensatory free agent. That designation would have moved with him to Cincinnati. Rapoport and ESPN’s Adam Schefter then reported the Bengals were out.
Zac Taylor Delivers Duke Tobin’s Apology To Philadelphia Eagles
Bengals coach Zac Taylor spoke Wednesday at his first news conference since the deadline. Cincinnati’s personnel department is led by director of player personnel Duke Tobin.
“Duke was very explicit with me when he came and spoke to me about how he wanted this portrayed,” Taylor said. “I’m not comfortable doing it, but I’m going to do what he asked.”
Cincinnati went looking for an edge rusher after rookie Cashius Howell had wrist surgery. The Bengals drafted Howell out of Texas A&M with the No. 41 overall pick in April. Through seven games he had a sack and five quarterback hits, Bengals.com noted. Taylor said Wednesday there is no firm timeline for his return, though the injury is not considered season-ending.
“We did make an effort to put some depth in there in place of Cashius,” Taylor explained. “As we got into it, obviously it was going to be a little more costly than we initially anticipated.”
Ebiketie is still with the Eagles. Philadelphia is 2-7 after seven straight losses and is off this week.
“He’s really apologetic about it and wants to make clear Philly was a great trade partner,” Taylor said of Tobin. “It was on our end, and that’s just the way things go.”
Arnold Ebiketie, Trey Hendrickson And The 2027 Compensatory Pick
The pick at stake is the third-rounder Cincinnati is projected to receive after Trey Hendrickson left for the Baltimore Ravens in free agency. The NFL awards those picks to teams that lose more qualifying free agents than they sign. Taking on Ebiketie would have evened the Bengals’ count.
The Atlanta Falcons drafted Ebiketie out of Penn State with the No. 38 overall pick in 2022. He had 16.5 sacks in four seasons there before Philadelphia signed him this offseason. He has played in all nine Eagles games this year without a sack, and he has two quarterback hits.
The Eagles were not happy, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Tuesday. The deal had been agreed to but never finalized, so Eagles general manager Howie Roseman had no recourse.
The Bengals did not add anyone before the deadline.
“I didn’t even ask the question,” Taylor said. “It doesn’t really matter to me. It probably took three minutes of my day yesterday away from watching tape. So, got a lot of faith in how those guys operate and we’ll just move forward with it.”
Taylor had also met with reporters Monday, hours after the team landed at Paycor Stadium from Madrid. The Bengals beat Atlanta 34-17 there Sunday, according to Bengals.com.
“I feel good about where we’re at,” Taylor said Monday. “We’re just focused on Pittsburgh right now. It’s our biggest focus.”
Cincinnati is 6-2 for the first time since 2015 and has won four in a row, The Associated Press reported. The Bengals lead the league in third-down conversion rate at 52.9%.
“Certainly have a ton of confidence in our front office and how they do things,” Taylor said Wednesday. “They’ve given us the players that have allowed us to be 6-2 right now and playing at such a high level. So we’ll put that behind us and move forward and just get excited for this game on Sunday.”
The Bengals host the Pittsburgh Steelers at 7:20 p.m. CT Sunday at Paycor Stadium on NBC, with first place in the AFC North at stake. Ebiketie and the Eagles return Nov. 22, when Philadelphia hosts Pittsburgh at 3:25 p.m. CT on CBS.
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