In the instant aftermath of Maxx Crosby’s commerce to the Ravens, who edged out the Cowboys’ provide, and with free company kicking off on Monday, all eyes are turning to Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. According to a number of studies, the Cowboys have had Hendrickson in thoughts as their “fallback” in the event that they couldn’t work out a commerce for Crosby.
Without a doubt, Hendrickson would symbolize a splashy signing. The former third-round pick of Florida Atlantic toiled away for just a few years as a task participant with the Saints. He then broke out within the closing yr of his rookie deal, notching 13.5 sacks. That led to a $60 million cope with the Bengals in free company.
Hendrickson has been a lot productive in Cincinnati, too. He’s amassed 14+ sacks in three of his 5 years there, together with consecutive seasons with 17.5 sacks in 2023 and 2024. A hip harm ended his 2025 season early, and Hendrickson completed with 4 sacks – his fewest since 2018, his second yr within the league – over simply seven video games.
If the Cowboys have been to signal Hendrickson, they’d certainly earn loads of reward for the transfer. But there’s a free agent choice that will be a greater match for Christian Parker’s protection whereas nonetheless being a preferred signing: Seahawks edge rusher Boye Mafe.
A second-round pick of Minnesota again in 2022, Mafe was considered very uncooked popping out of school. He turned loads of heads on the mix together with his athleticism, however Mafe was nonetheless placing collectively the nuances of being a move rusher.
The final two years, although, he got here into his personal.
Playing in head coach Mike Macdonald’s protection, which operates out of a 3-4 hybrid entrance similar to how Parker has described his scheme, Mafe match into the skin linebacker position. That meant he was requested to sometimes drop into protection – he noticed 64 protection snaps in 2024 after 69 whole protection snaps his first two years within the league – alongside his two principal duties of dashing the passer and setting the sting in run protection.
Mafe noticed a discount in snaps within the run protection space this previous season, however that was largely as a result of signing of DeMarcus Lawrence, who Cowboys followers know full effectively is an elite run defender. Even with Lawrence on the town, Mafe completed fourth on the crew in pressures; in 2024, he led all Seahawks EDGEs in pressures.
He was additionally graded by Pro Football Focus as Seattle’s finest run defending EDGE in 2024, the yr earlier than Lawrence’s arrival. Mafe’s discount in run protection snaps had little to do together with his skill, however was extra so an endorsement of Lawrence’s.
The move rush continues to be the place Mafe shines most, although. His athleticism makes him a matchup nightmare from wider alignments – Mafe’s 0.84 second get-off was tied for tenth quickest amongst edge rushers final yr, whereas his time to stress of two.76 seconds was twelfth – however Mafe additionally developed his move rush strikes.
His stress charge of 13.2%, move rush win charge of 12.2%, and 18.5% stress charge on dropbacks lasting longer than 2.5 seconds all would have ranked second on the Cowboys this previous yr, behind both Quinnen Williams or Osa Odighizuwa. Mafe gained in loads of methods, a marked enchancment from his earlier years when he both gained with velocity or just didn’t win.
Many of these numbers are proper on par with Hendrickson’s common manufacturing from the final three years. Mafe edges Hendrickson in some areas, whereas Hendrickson is best in others. But one main space of distinction is age: Mafe is 4 years youthful. Mafe has additionally missed simply three video games on account of harm in his younger profession, whereas Hendrickson is coming off a season-ending harm.
There’s additionally the matter of scheme match.
Parker would seemingly be the primary to say that any scheme that doesn’t match a participant like Hendrickson is a foul scheme. Even so, at roughly 270 kilos, Hendrickson wouldn’t be your typical exterior linebacker on this new protection. He’s extra constructed for the 4i place that many have earmarked for Odighizuwa.
Mafe’s physique sort is a way more commonplace match for that exterior linebacker position. He’s additionally bought direct expertise in a really comparable position from the previous two years. For comparability’s sake, Mafe has performed 176 protection snaps in his four-year profession; Hendrickson has 176 protection snaps in his nine-year profession.
Both Parker and Schottenheimer have harassed in current weeks that their exterior linebackers have to be able to dropping into protection, regardless that that can solely be executed now and again. Mafe has proven a capability and luxury degree with that, whereas Hendrickson merely has not.
In the tip, both participant could be a very good signing for the Cowboys. They each rush the passer rather well, and the Cowboys want loads of that. But between the 2 choices, Mafe represents a extra pure match for Parker’s protection whereas nonetheless being a big worth addition to the roster.
