Is Joe Mixon A Possible Cap Casualty In Cincinnati?

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Entering each and every offseason, NFL teams are faced with crucial roster decisions. A lot of the focus surrounds the available salary cap space of a given team. That may not just be a focus on the upcoming season, but also how that salary cap is affected in future seasons. The Cincinnati Bengals are entering a fascinating period with their salary cap space. That begs the question. Could running back Joe Mixon be a cap casualty in the 2023 offseason?

Mixon has shown flashes of being a smooth runner, while also occasionally helping out in the passing game. Yet, his 2022 season was a mixed bag, overall. Cincinnati still had an exciting season, nearly reaching the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year. The eventual Super Bowl LVII champion Kansas City Chiefs eventually downed the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game, however.

Why does Joe Mixon make sense as a possible cap casualty this offseason? Plus, what important factors are there to monitor, regarding his current contract? Let’s kick it off.

Slight Regression

If you look at Joe Mixon’s 2022 campaign as a whole, it was a bit of a step back from his 2021 results. Granted, he played in two less games than he did the previous season. But, Mixon finished with just 814 rushing yards in 2022, compared to 1,205 rushing yards in 2021. His rushing touchdown total was essentially cut in half, dropping from 13 to seven. Numbers like a 3.9 yards per carry and 58.1 rushing yards per game show how hard it was for Joe Mixon to gain any consistency.

This is a running back who is a bit underrated when it comes to his mix of speed, change of direction skills and contact balance. Nonetheless, those are all traits that appear to hold little shelf life for most running backs in the NFL. Mixon also had to deal with a Bengals offensive line that had their fair share of warts in 2022. All told, the Oklahoma product struggled mightily to gain the yards after contact that he was used to in prior seasons, while producing fewer chunk gains.

Diving Into Mixon’s Contract

Let’s dive into the current contract of Joe Mixon. In 2023, the running back is due for a $9.4 million base salary, via Spotrac. His cap hit is a bit heftier at $12.761 million. What are the possible cap savings for Cincinnati, if they were to make him a cap casualty this offseason?

A trade or release of Joe Mixon before June 1 would save the Bengals a reasonable $7.261 million in cap space. At the same time, a trade or release before June 1 would create $5.5 million in dead cap for 2023. If the Bengals were to trade him after June 1, or designate him as a cut after that date, the cap savings would be even higher for Cincinnati. In fact, the Bengals would save $10.011 million in that scenario, while only adding a dead cap number of $2.75 million for both 2023 and 2024.

Meanwhile, the Bengals do have an intriguing scenario on Joe Mixon for 2024. If they decide to keep him for this season and not make him a cap casualty, Cincinnati has a club option on Mixon for 2024. That club option holds a base salary of $9.683 million that year. His cap hit would be even higher in 2024 at $13.133 million, compared to the aforementioned $12.761 million in 2023. Finally, Joe Mixon is currently set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2025.

Bengals Stars Set To Receive Massive Payday

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Yes, Joe Mixon took a bit of a step back in 2022. The real reason as to why he may be a cap casualty this offseason, is due in part to his teammates. Cincinnati is going to have to give massive contract extensions to other offensive stars, sooner rather than later. Arguably, this involves two offensive pieces for sure, and could climb up to three total contract extensions.

The most obvious contract extension that looms involves young quarterback Joe Burrow. This is the first offseason in which Burrow is eligible to negotiate for a new long-term contract. Of course, he has one year left on his rookie deal in 2023, followed by a fifth-year option granted to former first-round picks. As younger quarterbacks continue to shine around the league, the projected payments for quarterback contracts continue to climb. Some reports believe that Burrow is someone who could sign a deal that would pay him $50 million or more on average per season.

At wide receiver, Ja’Marr Chase will eventually get paid handsomely. Thankfully for the Bengals, they have a bit more time to wait on handing out that deal. It is Tee Higgins who becomes a challenging situation, in regard to an extension and salary cap space. Higgins is essentially a WR1 acting as a WR2 in Cincinnati behind Chase. Simply put, Higgins could command anywhere from $22 million to $25 million on average per season, if he wanted to. He is well worth it. Will he continue to play for the Bengals? That may all depend on what the team does with Joe Mixon this offseason.

Be on the lookout for more FPC NFL articles and analysis throughout this week. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.