Season to reveal long-term plans for Seahawks linebackers

Published 9:30 am Wednesday, July 9, 2025

RENTON, Wash. — The Seattle Seahawks selected edge rusher Boye Mafe with the 40th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, one of the many selections acquired in the blockbuster trade that sent Russell Wilson to Denver. Since then, Mafe has 18 sacks, 32 quarterback hits and a pressure rate that ranks just outside the top 50 among qualified pass rushers.

For the past three seasons, Seattle has been able to roster Mafe for a bargain. As he enters the final year of his rookie contract, the Seahawks must consider where the 26-year-old outside linebacker fits in their long-term plans.

Seattle’s veteran players don’t report to training camp until July 22. This is typically a quiet period on the NFL calendar, but as the Seahawks just demonstrated with punter Michael Dickson, contract negotiations can take place if both sides are motivated to get a deal done. Mafe is among the extension-eligible players from Seattle’s 2022 draft class.

Mafe had a quiet rookie year, totaling four quarterback hits and three sacks. He assumed a bigger role in Year 2 and set a franchise record for consecutive games with a sack, producing seven in a row. Mafe finished that year with a team-high nine sacks, 16 quarterback hits and a pressure rate of 13.8 percent, which ranked 39th out of 187 defenders with at least 200 pass-rushing snaps (all stats provided by TruMedia unless stated otherwise).

Mafe missed a couple of games in 2024 but was just as productive rushing the passer on a per-play basis, despite a decrease in sacks (six) and QB hits (12). He also remained a reliable run defender. Mafe is a well-rounded player who fits perfectly in coach Mike Macdonald’s defense. He just hasn’t produced at a level that makes signing him to a big-money extension ahead of his age-27 season an obvious decision.

The cost of good edge defenders is constantly rising. Buffalo signed 25-year-old Greg Rousseau to a four-year, $80 million extension in March. Josh Sweat, 28, signed a four-year, $76.4 million deal with the Cardinals. Chase Young, 26, signed a three-year, $51 million deal with the Saints. Dayo Odeyingbo, who turns 26 in September, signed a three-year, $48 million deal with the Bears. All are outside the top 10 among edge rushers by average annual salary (and, on paper, Mafe’s last couple of seasons profile similarly). Rousseau ranks 12th, one spot behind Cincinnati’s Trey Hendrickson, who is seeking a new contract.

Notable extension-eligible edge rushers from Mafe’s 2022 class include Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson, Jacksonville’s Travon Walker, the Giants’ Kayvon Thibodeaux, Kansas City’s George Karlaftis and Denver’s Nik Bonitto. Cowboys All-Pro Micah Parsons (26 years old) is also still without a new deal, and 30-year-old T.J. Watt is in a contract dispute with the Steelers. There’s a chance that by the start of the regular season, a $20 million-per-year deal will barely crack the top 15 among edge rushers.

All this makes 2025 an important season for Mafe and the Seahawks. He’s a young, homegrown player at a premium position who has delivered decent numbers through his first three seasons. Mafe is an elite athlete with an array of pass-rush moves that highlight his explosiveness, footwork and play strength. If he adds a few more moves to his bag of tricks, he has the makings of a double-digit sack producer.

Seattle signed Uchenna Nwosu to a two-year deal worth just south of $20 million in March 2022, then re-signed him to a three-year, $45 million extension in July 2023 after he posted 9.5 sacks and 26 hits. Injuries have limited Nwosu to just 12 games and three sacks over the past two seasons, which is likely one reason Seattle asked him to take a pay cut this offseason. Nwosu, 28, is a dynamic edge defender when healthy, but between him and 33-year-old DeMarcus Lawrence — whose three-year, $32.5 million contract has only one year of guaranteed money — Seattle is entering 2025 relying on players with injury questions (Nwosu had offseason knee surgery, and Lawrence missed most of last season with a broken foot).

Mafe and 2023 second-round pick Derick Hall — also selected with a pick from the Wilson deal — might be the future. Hall, like Mafe, had a quiet rookie year (five QB hits, zero sacks), then came on strong in Year 2 (20 QB hits, eight sacks). Hall is a different style of pass rusher than Mafe. He is at his best when using speed and brute strength rather than high-level hand fighting. He started to put that on display once he found his footing as a second-year player.

“It’s a lot that’s on your plate,” Hall said of his rookie year during a KIRO-AM radio interview. “Moving to a new city, learning new coaches and teammates, trying to fit in and then figuring out the on-field part can make life challenging for first-year players.”

Hall said some struggles during his rookie season could be attributed to that juggling act.

“And then also wanting to grow so fast,” Hall continued. “Coming from being so successful in college and then getting here and not being so successful, you’re wondering, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ It’s not what you’re doing wrong — it’s what you’re doing right to be able to grow. That’s what helped me out from Year 1 to Year 2.”

Hall cited Seattle’s Week 3 win over the Dolphins as the moment things started to click. He had registered a sack against former Auburn teammate Bo Nix in the season opener and put several good reps on tape against the Patriots in Week 2. Then came the Miami game, his first career start, when he had two sacks and four QB hits.

“That was my first true game where I’m like, ‘Wow, I can truly do this,’’’ Hall said. “As a rookie, that’s the stuff you battle. Like, ‘Am I really good enough to play in this league?’ That’s the game it really, really broke open for me.”

Now Mafe and Hall must ascend into the game-wrecker category. They’ve had flashes of excellence; there were a couple of games during Mafe’s hot streak in 2023 when opponents didn’t have answers for him. That wasn’t the case in 2024, but if he takes that leap in 2025, especially against the elite teams on the schedule, he might become the first John Schneider draftee to make the Pro Bowl as an edge rusher, and then cash in on a multiyear extension.

Affecting the game on every down and distance is the next step for Mafe, defensive coordinator Aden Durde said.

“Me and him talk about it all the time,” said Durde, who also works closely with the defensive line given his background as a position coach. “He does it, and he really brings the game to life on third down. Can he bring the game to life on first and second just like he brings the game to life on third down?”

Hall’s next step, Durde said, is about consistency and “being as efficient as possible.”

“Sometimes D-Hall is like a bull in a china shop,” Durde said. “He wastes energy at times. … How efficient can he be? How can he bring his edge moves to life?”

The urgency to take that next step is greater for Mafe due to his expiring contract. In a KIRO-AM interview on June 10 during minicamp, he said he doesn’t enter each season with specific goals to reach.

“If you sit there and worry about a goal,” Mafe said, “you may never reach it.” Instead, Mafe said, his approach is to remind himself, “I just want to be better than I was yesterday.”

If Mafe takes that mindset and turns it into a career year, the rest will likely take care of itself. Mafe figures to be in the same boat as fellow 2022 draftee Abe Lucas in that he try to negotiate an extension this summer, but it’s probably best for both sides to let the year play out and proceed from there. Regardless, Mafe’s long-term outlook is a looming question ahead of his fourth season.