Bengals Call Off Trade for Eagles Edge Rusher Arnold Ebiketie Over Compensatory Pick

Updated 18:14 UTC: Bengals call off the trade

The Bengals have called off this trade. Jordan Schultz reported on Tuesday that the deal for Ebiketie had fallen through and would not happen, and that the reversal was not related to a physical or to performance. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and ESPN's Adam Schefter also reported that the trade was off.

Rapoport wrote on X: "The Bengals have now called off this trade with an eye toward keeping a future comp pick they would've lost with this deal. Agreement was reached, but not official."

Schefter reported that the Bengals would have lost a third-round compensatory pick that they were receiving for Trey Hendrickson signing with Baltimore. theScore, Sports Illustrated, Cincinnati.com, Eagles Wire and Heavy all reported the reversal on Tuesday, with theScore publishing its report at 17:30 UTC.

The reason sits in the compensatory pick formula. Ebiketie was signed by Philadelphia as a compensatory free agent, and that status would have carried over to Cincinnati, according to Over The Cap's Nick Korte, whose post on X set out the formula. Ebiketie stays with the Eagles, and Cincinnati keeps its projected third-round pick. The original report of the agreed trade, published earlier on Tuesday, follows below.

The Cincinnati Bengals have acquired edge rusher Arnold Ebiketie from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round pick. TSN reported the deal, citing NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, and NBC Sports Philadelphia reported that a league source confirmed the trade on Tuesday morning.

Rapoport wrote on X, in a post quoted by Sports Illustrated: "Sources: The #Eagles aren't done, trading edge Arnold Ebiketie to the #Bengals in exchange for 2027 6th round pick."

What Philadelphia gains and what Cincinnati gets

Before this trade, the Eagles did not have a sixth-round pick in the 2027 draft, NBC Sports Philadelphia reported. The pick restores that slot. The deal was agreed on Tuesday morning, hours before the NFL trade deadline at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 10, Eagles Wire reported.

For Cincinnati, the move adds a pass rusher on an expiring contract. Sports Illustrated, reporting ESPN's Ben Baby, wrote that the Bengals are taking on the rest of Ebiketie's expiring deal this season, worth $650,000, with another $3 million in incentives possible.

Sports Illustrated also reported that this is the Bengals' first deadline day acquisition since 2024, when they traded for Bears running back Khalil Herbert in the final hours.

Ebiketie's season and career so far

Ebiketie, 27, joined the Eagles this offseason on a one-year deal and has played in all nine games this season, NBC Sports Philadelphia reported. He has played a total of 300 snaps, 48 percent, this season, with 25 tackles and 2 quarterback hits and no sack.

Cincinnati.com reported that Ebiketie is a former second-round pick in 2022 and has logged 16.5 sacks in his five-year career, but has not recorded a sack this year. Eagles Wire reported that he joined Philadelphia on a one-year contract in March after spending his first four NFL seasons with Atlanta.

The move follows Philadelphia's trade of defensive tackle Jordan Davis to Jacksonville for a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round selection, a deal The Orbit Post already covers, Eagles Wire reported.

How the deal was reported

The first reports of the trade appeared on Tuesday morning. An Akron Beacon Journal live blog entry at 11:02 a.m. ET and a Heavy report published at 16:05 UTC both reported Rapoport's account of the deal. NBC Sports Philadelphia followed at 16:18 UTC with a league source confirming the deal to NBC Sports Philadelphia, an independent confirmation beyond the Rapoport report. TSN published its report at 16:32 UTC. By then the shape of the deal was the same in every report: Ebiketie to Cincinnati, and a 2027 sixth-round pick to Philadelphia.