The criticism of Cincinnati’s 2026 free agency haul continued from Sports Illustrated this week. Gilberto Manzano listed his best and worst value signings on Thursday, with the three-year, $60 million deal for Boye Mafe in the latter section.
He’s not convinced Mafe can live up to that money, given his production over the past few seasons.
Big Skepticism
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A 2022 second-round pick, Mafe produced 20 sacks in 34 starts during his four years in Seattle, but started just four games last season and played around 50% of the defensive snaps.
“Yes, the Bengals should take all the help they can get on defense. But it’s a giant red flag that Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, perhaps the best defensive mind in football, couldn’t get more from Mafe, a 2022 second-round pick,” Manzano wrote. “Mafe was shopped at the trade deadline after his snaps declined over the past two seasons, playing only 50% of the defensive snaps in 2025, down 10% from the ’24 season. Paying $20 million per season for a part-time edge rusher doesn’t seem ideal for the Bengals. It’s on defensive coordinator Al Golden to help reignite Mafe’s career.”
This analysis flies a bit in the face of Macdonald’s own comment this week on missing Mafe next season. He directly noted Mafe’s ability to win quickly on pass rushes when discussing his exit at the 2026 NFL Spring Meeting.
“I think to your point, like, actual pass rush stats are a little bit overrated,” Macdonald said to The Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway. “I think probably the best thing that Boye does is quick wins early, which is something that you need. You have to attack the quarterback fast, and some things that they like. Can he finish a bit better? Yeah, absolutely. But to get the quarterback off their spot, I mean, somebody else is probably making that play too. So again, another guy we were really excited about, and we are going to miss him.”
Time will tell how impactful Mafe can be, but he’s going to get every snap-chance to perform after playing 808 snaps in 2023 and less than 640 in each of the past two seasons.
Check out the full list from Manzano here.