Boye Mafe to Sign With Bengals, Leaving Seahawks 'Dark Side' Defense in Trouble

The third member of the Seattle Seahawks' free agency class has agreed to terms with a new team, as edge rusher Boye Mafe is expected to sign with the Cincinnati Bengals, per Mafe's agent Mike McCartney.

Proving to be far too rich for the Seahawks, the Bengals are giving Mafe a three-year, $60 million deal. At $20 million per year, that will likely put Mafe in the top 20 at his position in average salary. It's also well above Spotrac's projection of $12.24 million per year for Mafe.

It's the second player from Seattle's Super Bowl-winning "Dark Side" defense to find a new home after safety Coby Bryant agreed to terms with the Chicago Bears earlier on Monday.

Mafe's departure was more expected than Bryant's, but it's still a massive hit to a unit that dominated the NFL in 2025. So why did the Seahawks let him go?

Why Seahawks let Mafe walk

Nov 24, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks linebacker Boye Mafe (53) waits for a snap against the Arizona Cardinals during the second quarter at Lumen Field. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

After posting 9.0 sacks in his second season in 2023, the former second-round pick moved to the back half of the edge rusher rotation as Mike Macdonald's defense evolved.

Mafe played just 50% of the defensive snaps in 2025, totaling 31 tackles, four tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and five pass deflections.

It was always a pass-rush by committee, but Uchenna Nwosu and DeMarcus Lawrence both played more snaps than Mafe, and Hall was only slightly below 50%. Hall, Lawrence and Nwosu are all under contract for 2026, so it was difficult to justify paying Mafe a hefty salary.

At this point, the biggest question mark is whether Lawrence, who will be 34 next season, is still mulling retirement. If only Hall and Nwosu are left, the Seahawks may need to address the position in free agency and not just the draft.

Nwosu will be 30 after the 2026 season, which could leave the Seahawks in a tough place as they work to get younger at the edge spot. Mafe, however, didn't seem like the long-term solution as a game-changing pass rusher.

Mafe's impact was bigger than the sacks show, especially as he was beginning to be trusted to drop in coverage at times, but the deal the Bengals gave him proved that general manager John Schneider made the right choice.

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