‘We are going to miss him’ — Super Bowl winning head coach has strong admission about Bengals’ expensive free agent addition
Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is going to miss having new Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Boye Mafe rushing the passer for him.
Boye Mafe signed a three-year, $60 million contract to join the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason, and his former coach knows he needs to be properly replaced.
Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, Mafe’s coach of the last two years who’s also fresh off winning Super Bowl LX, heaped praises on Mafe’s game.
“I think to your point, actual pass rush stats, like pass rush sacks are a little bit overrated,” Macdonald said to The Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway at the NFL League Meeting. “I think probably the best thing that Boye does is quick wins early, which was something that you need. You need to affect the quarterback fast. Can he finish a bit better? Yeah, absolutely. But you 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.”
Mafe produced just two sacks during the 2025 season, but his pass rush win rate of 17.4% against true pass sets according to Pro Football Focus would’ve ranked second on the Bengals’ defense behind Trey Hendrickson.
To hear Macdonald validate Mafe’s game is great news for Cincinnati, and the 27-year old is already focusing on ensuring those quick wins translate to the “actual stats” his now former coach is talking about.
Boye Mafe looking to prove his former coach right
The Bengals ponied up nearly $30 million in cash this year to sign Mafe despite the minimal sack production over the last seven months. They did so because, like Macdonald, they believe Mafe’s value goes beyond the volume statistics, and his game has the potential to achieve them anyways in the near future.
Mafe, who had nine sacks as a full-time starter in 2023, believes it himself, and will be working to turn his quick wins into big wins.
“The game is fast,” Mafe said at his introductory press conference on Mar. 12. “People don’t realize how many and how small the details are into it. You can be one step away from 10 sacks, or you could be, you know, one step too short. And so just understanding how to make that process faster, shorten my steps, how quick I can get to the quarterback, how much faster I can get there, and no matter how small the details are, but those details will make a difference.”
No matter how you slice it, Mafe was an important part of Seattle’s second-ever Super Bowl victory. Macdonald is one of the best defensive-minded coaches in the game today, and he knows his team lost a good player to Cincinnati.
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