The Bengals made the free agent signings of Cook and former Seahawks edge rusher Boye Mafe official Thursday, each coming on three-year contracts, and introduced both in a formal press conference with local media at Paycor Stadium. Cook and Mafe bring three Super Bowl rings with them and hope their experience winning champions can help take Cincinnati back to its 2021-2022 level.
While Mafe fills one of the holes left in the departures of Trey Hendrickson and Joseph Ossai, Cook steps into a spot that has been in question since Jessie Bates’ departure following the 2022 season – the last time Cincinnati made the playoffs with an AFC Championship appearance.
“My friends, they’re from here, obviously, and they’re Bengals fans, so they let me know (about the safety struggles), but that’s not a knock,” said Cook, who graduated from Mount Healthy High School and played at the University of Cincinnati before the Chiefs took him in the second round of the 2022 draft. “I don’t want to do that on anybody else’s skillset. Anything can happen within a year. … But I’ll be more watching to see how can I help them become better. I understand it’s been a struggle, but I don’t even know why it was a struggle, if that makes sense. I want to know why, rather than just try to fix something when I don’t know what caused it.”
Cook said hasn’t spoken with Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow yet, but he surprisingly owes Burrow credit for helping him through some struggles as a rookie in 2022. During the Chiefs’ regular-season game in Cincinnati that season, Burrow approached him during a pause for a flag and gave Cook a mental boost he needed just with a simple conversation.
Kansas City went on to win the AFC Championship against the Bengals later that season, with Cook making a key tip on a pass intended for Tee Higgins that got intercepted late in a tie game. Cook then helped the team to a pair of Super Bowl wins in 2023 and 2024.
“The character of him,” Cook said. “He knew who I was, where I was from. Basically, telling me to keep going. For me, as a rookie coming in, especially at that time … He didn’t know that at that time. I had three weeks I was not figuring it out. It helped me a lot. Having that understanding for someone that the city would say was basically the Golden Goose, to be humble enough to speak to me in that aspect, and support me even though I was on the opposite team, it was nice.”
Cook said he looked forward to coming home with the Bengals and hopes to bring leadership and a strong tackling ability — which has been lacking — to the defense.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Mafe, another player who has leadership qualities, said he and Cook flew into Cincinnati together and were talking on the plane about how they can use their championship experience to bring success to the Bengals. He’s fresh off a Super Bowl win and looking to carry that momentum to his new team, but the fellow 2022 second-round draft pick also has something to prove.
After recording nine sacks in 2023, Mafe’s production went down the last two years with six sacks in 2024 and just two last season when he was in more of a rotational role under a new staff in Seattle. The Bengals still saw some untapped potential, and he said he’s ready to show it.
“A lot of things a lot of people question about me is like the production, and that’s a big question, I understand that,” Mafe said. “But the thing is, the coaches saw the film. They saw what I could do on the field. They want to tap in and make sure that the pressure rate and all that turns into sacks. And so with them, with me buying in and getting that chance to really dig into that and really get into the nitty gritty of what I need to do to improve my game, I feel like that untapped potential can really show itself.”
Mafe said he plans to bring energy and effort and hopes to “be a light” to the Bengals defense.
Cincinnati will be trying to feature the 2023 version of Mafe when he started 16 games and produced 16 quarterback hits, along with the nine sacks.
“I believe that’s what they brought me in here to do, to be, you know, bring that back into light,” Mafe said. “Be that pass rush, or be that person to, you know, help in the pass rush, helping the defense on all downs. And that’s what I want to do when I come here, make sure that I bring that championship mentality and that bring that level to the game.”
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