Arnold Ebiketie Signs One-Year Deal with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Free agent linebacker Arnold Ebiketie has agreed to a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles worth up to $7.3 million, with $4.3 million guaranteed. According to ESPN reporter Adam Schefter, the deal was confirmed by Ebiketie’s agent, Damarius Bilbo of Klutch Sports. Ebiketie joins the Eagles after the team lost edge rusher Jaelan Phillips during free agency when Phillips signed with the Carolina Panthers. Philadelphia hopes Ebiketie can help strengthen its pass rush heading into the upcoming NFL season. Although Ebiketie recorded only two sacks in the 2025 season with the Atlanta Falcons, the lower number was largely due to his role in a deep defensive rotation rather than being the main pass rusher. Despite the reduced sack total, he remained effective at pressuring quarterbacks. According to Next Gen Stats, Ebiketie ranked tenth in the NFL in quarterback pressure rate at 16.4 percent among players with at least 150 pass-rush snaps. This was the highest rate among Falcons edge rushers. In 2024, Ebiketie led Atlanta with six sacks. However, the Falcons later added more pass-rushing depth by drafting Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. and signing veteran Leonard Floyd in 2025. Under defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, Atlanta’s defense produced a franchise-record 57 sacks during the 2025 season, with Ebiketie playing an important complementary role.

Since entering the NFL, Ebiketie has shown steady production. He recorded 2.5 sacks during his rookie season in 2022, followed by six sacks in 2023 and another six in 2024. The Falcons originally selected Ebiketie in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft after he played college football at Penn State. Before transferring to Penn State, he spent four seasons at Temple University. Ebiketie was born in Cameroon, where he primarily played soccer as a child. His family later moved to Maryland when he was 13 years old. It was there that he first began playing football during high school, eventually developing into an NFL pass rusher.