In the immediate aftermath of Maxx Crosby’s trade to the Ravens, who edged out the Cowboys’ offer, and with free agency kicking off on Monday, all eyes are turning to Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. According to multiple reports, the Cowboys have had Hendrickson in mind as their “fallback” if they couldn’t work out a trade for Crosby.
Without a doubt, Hendrickson would represent a splashy signing. The former third-round pick out of Florida Atlantic toiled away for a few years as a role player with the Saints. He then broke out in the final year of his rookie deal, notching 13.5 sacks. That led to a $60 million deal with the Bengals in free agency.
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Hendrickson has been plenty productive in Cincinnati, too. He’s amassed 14+ sacks in three of his five years there, including consecutive seasons with 17.5 sacks in 2023 and 2024. A hip injury ended his 2025 season early, and Hendrickson finished with four sacks – his fewest since 2018, his second year in the league – over just seven games.
If the Cowboys were to sign Hendrickson, they would surely earn a lot of praise for the move. But there is a free agent option that would be a better fit for Christian Parker’s defense while still being a popular signing: Seahawks edge rusher Boye Mafe.
A second-round pick out of Minnesota back in 2022, Mafe was regarded as very raw coming out of college. He turned plenty of heads at the combine with his athleticism, but Mafe was still putting together the nuances of being a pass rusher.
The last two years, though, he came into his own.
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Playing in head coach Mike Macdonald’s defense, which operates out of a 3-4 hybrid front very similar to how Parker has described his scheme, Mafe fit into the outside linebacker role. That meant he was asked to occasionally drop into coverage – he saw 64 coverage snaps in 2024 after 69 total coverage snaps his first two years in the league – alongside his two main responsibilities of rushing the passer and setting the edge in run defense.
Mafe saw a reduction in snaps in the run defense area this past season, but that was largely due to the signing of DeMarcus Lawrence, who Cowboys fans know full well is an elite run defender. Even with Lawrence in town, Mafe finished fourth on the team in pressures; in 2024, he led all Seahawks EDGEs in pressures.
He was also graded by Pro Football Focus as Seattle’s best run defending EDGE in 2024, the year before Lawrence’s arrival. Mafe’s reduction in run defense snaps had little to do with his ability, but was more so an endorsement of Lawrence’s.
The pass rush is still where Mafe shines most, though. His athleticism makes him a matchup nightmare from wider alignments – Mafe’s 0.84 second get-off was tied for 10th fastest among edge rushers last year, while his time to pressure of 2.76 seconds was 12th – but Mafe also developed his pass rush moves.
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His pressure rate of 13.2%, pass rush win rate of 12.2%, and 18.5% pressure rate on dropbacks lasting longer than 2.5 seconds all would have ranked second on the Cowboys this past year, behind either Quinnen Williams or Osa Odighizuwa. Mafe won in a lot of ways, a marked improvement from his earlier years when he either won with speed or simply didn’t win.
Many of those numbers are right on par with Hendrickson’s average production from the last three years. Mafe edges Hendrickson in some areas, while Hendrickson is better in others. But one major area of difference is age: Mafe is four years younger. Mafe has also missed just three games due to injury in his young career, while Hendrickson is coming off a season-ending injury.
There’s also the matter of scheme fit.
Parker would likely be the first to say that any scheme that doesn’t fit a player like Hendrickson is a bad scheme. Even so, at roughly 270 pounds, Hendrickson would not be your typical outside linebacker in this new defense. He’s more built for the 4i position that many have earmarked for Odighizuwa.
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Mafe’s body type is a much more standard fit for that outside linebacker role. He’s also got direct experience in a very similar role from the past two years. For comparison’s sake, Mafe has played 176 coverage snaps in his four-year career; Hendrickson has 176 coverage snaps in his nine-year career.
Both Parker and Schottenheimer have stressed in recent weeks that their outside linebackers need to be capable of dropping into coverage, even though that will only be done on occasion. Mafe has shown an ability and comfort level with that, while Hendrickson simply has not.
In the end, either player would be a good signing for the Cowboys. They both rush the passer really well, and the Cowboys need plenty of that. But between the two options, Mafe represents a more natural fit for Parker’s defense while still being a significant value addition to the roster.
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