The Philadelphia Eagles and free agent linebacker Arnold Ebiketie have come to terms on a 1 year deal worth up to $7.3M if all incentives are hit. The contract will feature $4.3M in guaranteed money for the former 2nd round pick out of Penn State.
Ebiketie was a late joiner to the football ranks, not playing the sport for the first time until he reached high school after moving to Maryland from Cameroon. Across 4 NFL seasons he’s shown potential to be a disruptive force, recording 6 sacks in 2023 and again the following season.
Last year he saw his sack total drop after Atlanta moved to a more rotational based approach after drafting Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. Nevertheless, Ebiketie ranked 10th across the NFL amongst players with at least 150 pass rush snaps in terms of quarterback pressure rate in 2025 (16.4%).
Of his 130 career QB pressures, 42 of them have come within 2.5 seconds of the snap of the ball. A trait that will no doubt endear him to Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
Philadelphia was looking for additional pass rush depth after losing Jaelan Phillips to the Carolina Panthers and Nakobe Dean to the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency. He’ll now join a linebacker group that already features Nolan Smith Jr., Zack Baun, Jihaad Campbell, and Jalyx Hunt.
The 27 year old is familiar with the Philadelphia area having spent 3 seasons at Temple University prior to transferring to Penn State. According to PFF, Ebiketie had the Falcons highest rated pass-rushing grade for the third consecutive season.
Photo: Atlanta Falcons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.