Former UCLA Bruins offensive lineman Atonio Mafi has been waived by the Las Vegas Raiders, a corresponding move after claiming guard Bryce Cabeldue off waivers from the Seattle Seahawks, via the NFL transaction log.
For Bruins fans, the transaction is another reminder of how far Mafi has already come — and how much he meant in Westwood before the NFL grind began.
Mafi arrived at UCLA in 2018 from Junípero Serra High in San Mateo as a massive defensive lineman. He started as a true freshman at nose tackle, then made the rare and demanding switch to the offensive line.
By his final season in 2022, he was the left guard who started all 13 games and earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors from the coaches and the Associated Press.
That year he helped anchor a unit that was a Joe Moore Award semifinalist and powered one of the program’s best rushing stretches in decades. UCLA averaged 237.2 yards on the ground, sixth in the FBS and the Bruins’ first Pac-12 rushing title since 1976.
Zach Charbonnet became a 1,000-yard rusher again, and the Bruins posted nine 200-yard rushing games. Mafi finished his college career with 56 games played, tying the school record.
The New England Patriots selected him in the fifth round (144th overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft. As a rookie he played all 17 games and started five. Stints with the Indianapolis Colts and then the Raiders followed.
In 2025, he appeared in three games for Las Vegas and started two after being signed off the practice squad late in the year. Across three NFL seasons he has played 23 games with seven starts.
Roster math is unforgiving. Cabeldue, a 2025 sixth-round pick who played eight games last season in Seattle, gives Las Vegas another interior option as the 2026 season opens.
Mafi, now 25, is a free agent again and can be claimed or signed by another club.
From a UCLA perspective, the story is still the one that started on campus: a Bay Area kid who remade his body and his position, stayed available for 56 games, and helped restore a physical identity to the Bruins’ offense. That résumé does not disappear with a waiver.
Mafi’s next stop will decide whether he finds a longer foothold in the league. His Westwood chapter already stands on its own.
