
The Bengals introduced Boye Mafe as one of the marquee free agent signings in week one of free agency. Mafe signed his three-year, $60 million contract with the team on Thursday.
The 27-year-old will help Cincinnati work through the exits of Joseph Ossai to New York and Trey Hendrickson to Baltimore in free agency.
"They've been to the dance. That's something that attracted me. They know what it's like," Mafe said to Geoff Hobson on Thursday. "They know how to get there. Just coming from the Super Bowl, I want to go back. You want to bring that back to the city, and to have the chance to do that here would be amazing."
Mafe tallied 44-plus quarterback pressures in each of the past three seasons. The 27-year-old could be hitting the prime of his career across this deal as Cincinnati showed aggression on Day One of free agency.
He fits the rising player mold that Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin is trying to garner this offseason.
Mafe impressed him while suiting up for the reigning Super Bowl champs.
“Yeah, Seattle did a nice job, and they had a very good front, and they had a physical front, and they had a wave of guys that kept coming through. And that's something every team wants," Tobin said last month. "You ask anybody in my position with any of the other teams, they want that defensive line, they want the wave.
"And we would like to get to the point where we have a couple of different groups we can deploy in there and keep them fresh and really get after the passer. And you gotta stop the run to get after the passer. And it was impressive to see Seattle's D-line play, and they had a great scheme, and congrats to them."
Check out Mafe signing his deal below:
Boye. Mafe. Cincinnati Bengal. pic.twitter.com/wjdDeIfZka
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) March 12, 2026
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