The Cincinnati Bengals signed a pass rusher to help relieve some of the hurt of losing Trey Hendrickson in free agency.
But the guy they got, Boye Mafe, has not been super productive recently.
As a result, Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport listed Mafe among the eight worst free agent signings of the offseason.
Davenport acknowledges that Mafe was productive in 2023 with nine sacks but argues that he is no longer the same player.
Here’s his analysis:
After that nine-sack season, Mafe has managed just eight
sacks over the last two years combined, including a career-low two in 2025. Mafe appeared to fall out of favor in the Emerald City last year as well—despite playing in all 17 games, Mafe made just four starts and played his fewest snaps since his rookie season.
The overall take is that the Bengals are paying for a guy who happened to be on a stellar defense but didn’t do much of the heavy lifting for the Seattle Seahawks in their championship run.
The Bengals gave Mofe a contract worth $60 million over three years with $19 million guaranteed.
Other overpays according to Davenport were:
- EDGE Jaelan Phillips, Carolina Panthers, four years $120 million ($80 million guaranteed)
- WR Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts, four years, $114 million ($84 million guaranteed)
- C Tyler Linderbaum, Las Vegas Raiders, three years, $81 million (all guaranteed)
- EDGE Odafe Oweh, Washington Commanders, four years, $96 million ($68 million guaranateed)
- CB Alontae Taylor, Tennessee Titans, three years, $58 million ($42 million guaranteed)
- WR Wan’Dale Robinson, four years, $70 million ($38 million guaranteed)
- OG Zion Johnson, Cleveland Browns, three years, $49.5 million ($32.4 million guaranteed)
