The Seattle Seahawks had some tough decisions to make. With big-money extensions to sign for Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon, other teams willing to overspend for their players, and the compensatory pick formula in mind, general manager John Schneider had to let some guys walk.
That was the case with Boye Mafe, a homegrown talent who, despite losing his starting spot in Aden Durde's defense this season, was still one of the first and most reliable contributors off the bench. Losing him was a tough blow, but one that they could probably recover from in the NFL Draft.
Despite his contributions, letting Mafe go was a rather simple decision. The Cincinnati Bengals offered him $60 million over three years, and that's clearly way more than what the Seahawks were willing to pay for a backup. Now, it may not be long before they regret making that move.
The Bengals blatantly overpaid for former Seattle Seahawks edge rusher Boye Mafe
Before the start of free agency, Spotrac projected Mafe's market value to be around $12.2 million. That was a reasonable number, and one the Seahawks would've probably been tempted to match had they had the opportunity. The Bengals, however, gave him nearly twice that.
Mafe made just four starts last season. He registered 31 total tackles (11 solo), four tackles for loss, four QB hits, 2.0 sacks, five passes defensed, and one fumble recovery. That's not bad at all for someone who played 559 snaps, but that's clearly not worth $20 million a year.
Pro Football Focus (subscription required) gave him a 69.2 grade, which ranked 46th among 115 eligible edge rushers, and he ranked right in the middle of the pack in both run defense (65.1, 4th) and pass-rush grade (68.7, 45th).
He did post the second-most hurries of his career (40), and his 5.6 percent missed tackle rate was the best in his four years in the league, but there wasn't a lot more to brag about there.
Again, this isn't a jab at Mafe by any means. He's a serviceable player who does what he's supposed to do. He's just not a memorable player who's single-handedly going to turn the Bengals' mediocre pass-rush around, and spending that much money on a backup just reeks of desperation.
The Bengals lost Trey Hendrickson in free agency, and they clearly still don't trust 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart to take the reins of the pass-rush unit.
They gave up the third-most points per game (28.9) and the second-most total yards (392.6) last season, all while averaging just 2.1 sacks per game (T-22nd, per NFL Rankings). Mafe is no Trey Hendrickson, and they could've probably still signed him for far less than that.