Bengals accused of worst free-agent signing mistake

The Cincinnati Bengals continue to take some heat for their NFL free agency moves before the draft.

While the Bengals were overall aggressive in attacking needs, the Boye Mafe signing continues to be the hangup.

Over at Bleacher Report, Gary Davenport spotlighted the Mafe signing as one of the 10 worst deals of the offseason.

“However, this could be a case of the Bengals seeing what they wanted to see—a team hoping Mafe could recapture the form that saw him post nine sacks back in 2023,” Davenport wrote. “But he had just eight sacks over the past two seasons combined and played his fewest snaps in 2025 since his rookie year.”

Mafe was indeed a risky signing. The Bengals, while following their normal contract strategy, seemed to also admit as much because they can get out of the three-year deal worth $60 million relatively easily after the first year.

It’s fair to classify the Mafe signing as a gamble similar to the one the Bengals took years ago when signing Trey Hendrickson, which worked out pretty well. They're hoping he enjoys a similar bump while helping former first-rounders Shemar Stewart and Myles Murphy break out, too.

Overall, the Bengals’ Bryan Cook signing was universally praised, at least. The verdict will remain out on Mafe until the results start to show up on the field, though.

This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals accused of worst free-agent signing mistake