Feb 13, 2022; Inglewood, CA, USA; Cincinnati Bengals helmet on the field before Super Bowl LVI against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
By Kevin Harrish on

For the past few years, Cincinnati Bengals star running back Joe Mixon has been one of the team’s young stars and an integral part of Cincinnati’s high-powered offense. But there’s a good chance that he has played his last game with the team.

As Jay Morrison of The Athletic reports, Joe Mixon has the potential to be a “cap casualty” this offseason, with the Bengals likely cutting him to save money on their salary cap.

“The Bengals can boost their cap savings to $10 million by designating Mixon as a post-June 1 cut, but the organization typically avoids kicking dead money down the road,” Morrison wrote for The Athletic. “Named a captain for the first time in 2022, Mixon brings more juice and energy to the field than anyone on the roster when he gets going. But he struggled to get going for much of 2022, and the Bengals got equal production from Samaje Perine at a much lower cost. Even with Perine hitting free agency, the Bengals can bring him back at a more affordable price and look for a younger back during — or after — the draft.”

While this is a big move, it’s not exactly one that the Bengals weren’t expecting.

“The Bengals envisioned this scenario coming into play when they signed Mixon to a four-year, $48 million contract in 2020, and structured the deal so that they could get out of it two years early without much of a hit,” Morrison wrote. “And with the Joe Burrow extension dictating so much of what the front office will do this offseason, reallocating $7.3 million to more pressing needs feels closer to a certainty than a mere possibility.”

Regardless, it’s big news and the NFL world had plenty to say about it.

 

We’ll have to see what the Bengals ultimately decide to do.

[The Athletic]

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