Report: Eagles signing ex-Falcons edge rusher Arnold Ebiketie to a one-year deal
Ebiketie primarily served as a rotational player throughout his four-year career in Atlanta, but combined for 16.5 sacks in that span. He played at Temple and Penn State in college.
In the aftermath of Jaelan Phillips’ departure for the Carolina Panthers, some pass rush help is on the way to Philadelphia.
The Eagles have agreed to terms on a one-year deal with former Atlanta Falcons outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie, according to ESPN. The deal is reportedly worth up to $7.3 million with $4.3 million guaranteed.
Ebiketie, 27, just finished his rookie contract with the Falcons, the team that selected him No. 38 overall in the 2022 draft out of Penn State. He was primarily a rotational player throughout his four-year career in Atlanta, never eclipsing more than 50% of the defensive snaps. But he has plenty of pass-rush upside, combining for 16½ sacks in that span, including six sacks in both 2023 and 2024.
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This past season, the 6-foot-2, 250-pound Ebiketie played just 35% of the defensive snaps as he was buried down the depth chart. Even though he took just 177 pass-rush snaps, the fewest of his career according to Next Gen Stats, he finished with a 16.4% pressure rate, which was the second-highest of his career. He finished the season with two sacks.
The Eagles have plenty of familiarity with Ebiketie. He reportedly visited the Eagles on a top-30 predraft visit in 2022. Ebiketie was a former Temple edge rusher from 2017-20 and transferred to Penn State in 2021.
Ebiketie was born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, which is also the hometown of Joel Embiid, on Jan. 23, 1999. He moved to the Washington, D.C. area when he was 12-years-old and began playing football at Albert Einstein High in Kensington, Md. as a sophomore, according to The Athletic.
On a one-year, prove-it deal, Ebiketie is set to compete for a role in an Eagles pass rush that went quiet at times last season. The group, headlined by Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt, sorely needed reinforcements this offseason with Phillips, Joshua Uche, Azeez Ojulari, and Brandon Graham all hitting free agency.