Why Bengals trade for Eagles edge rusher Arnold Ebiketie fell through image
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The Cincinnati Bengals came into the NFL trade deadline with a need to upgrade their defense, with linebacker and safety among their top needs. But their first move of the day was for an edge rusher.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Bengals are trading a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for Arnold Ebiketie. It's a smaller trade, but he should provide some extra depth for the Bengals up front. That is, if the trade went through.
According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the Bengals and Eagles trade involving Ebiketie fell through, so Cincinnati won't be getting the edge rusher depth. Why did it fall through? It would've been a disaster had the trade become official.
How Bengals might've just lost a 3rd-round pick for Arnold Ebiketie trade
"BREAKING: Plot twist! The Bengals and Eagles deal for DE Arnold Ebiketie has fallen through and will not happen, per sources," Schultz reports.
The Bengals will not be getting Ebiketie this season, and it likely has nothing to do with the trade compensation, a failed physical, or some other issue with Ebiketie.
Instead, it's all thanks to the potential fallout of a trade for the Bengals, and specifically, regarding their compensatory pick formula.
As Nick Korte, contributor for Over The Cap, shared, this trade for the Bengals would have cost them a 2027 3rd-round pick.
"Arnold Ebiketie was signed as a compensatory free agent by the Eagles," Korte shared. "The Bengals lost 3 CFAs and signed 2 (Cordell Volson not qualifying), thus while they [lose] a 2027 6th-rounder, they lose a 2027 3rd-round comp pick that was via Trey Hendrickson going to Baltimore."
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How is it possible that the Bengals could lose a third-round pick if this Ebiketie trade with the Eagles goes through? The Bengals didn't sign Ebiketie in free agency, so why should they lose the compensatory pick for acquiring him?
As Korte shared in this thread, per the CBA: "If a Club trades for a player who was a CFA during that League Year, whether the player was another Club's CFA or the acquiring Club's own CFA, the player will be considered a CFA gained by the acquiring Club and will be included in the Compensatory netting process described above."
If the Bengals had made this trade with the Eagles for Ebiketie, they not only would've given up a 2027 sixth-round pick, but they would've lost the 2027 third-round pick they had gained from losing Trey Hendrickson this past offseason.
While Ebiketie is a solid depth piece, the cost of a third and sixth-rounder would be an egregious price to pay. Had they made the trade official, it would've been a total disaster.
The Bengals will not be getting Ebiketie, and will likely not be trading for any player signed to a free-agent deal this past offseason, as the fallout of losing the third-round pick from the Hendrickson departure is way too steep of a price to pay.
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