Cincinnati Bengals’ running back Joe Mixon agrees to pay cut, but why?

The circumstances surrounding Mixon have been uncertain at best for some time now, given the shady nature of his recent past, however, with a deal now apparently in place it looks as though the Oklahoma product will continue to ply his trade in Cincinnati.

Bengals restructure Joe Mixon’s contract

You’re probably aware that the Bengals have been working hard to tie up the long-term contract of star quarterback Joe Burrow. Yet, what you might not know is that behind the scenes they were trying to do the same with running back Joe Mixon. Truth be told, the 26-year-old has been in uncharted territory of late due to a collection of questionable situations in recent months that saw him land on the wrong side of the law. With that said, reports now indicate that Mixon and the franchise have agreed to restructure his four-year, $48 million contract that he signed back in 2020.

In case you’re wondering, Mixon was set to earn $10.1 million with a $12.8 million cap hit this coming season, however, that amount will now drop. It’s worth mentioning that this isn’t specifically about Mixon either, with the Bengals currently in the process of tying up things with star wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Interestingly, Mixon’s agent disclosed that his client prefers to stay in Cincinnati where he believes a Super Bowl run is possible, rather than take his chances on the open market. “Joe just agreed to a restructuring of his deal,” Peter Schaffer, Mixon’s agent, said. “His goal is to win a Super Bowl and play his career in Cincinnati and this is the best way to accomplish these goals.”

What did Joe Mixon do?

There are a few things to sift through here. You may recall back in February when Mixon had an arrest warrant issued for him and was subsequently charged with aggravated menacing after allegedly pointing a firearm at a woman on January 21st, which was just one day before the Bengals booked their spot in the AFC Championship Game courtesy of a win over the Buffalo Bills. Though charges were later dropped, it wouldn’t be long before Mixon was in trouble again, as police then chose to refile the charges against him after reportedly discovering ‘new evidence.’ Then, there was this past March when he was associated with, but not charged for a shooting that allegedly occurred at his home.

Ultimately, it appears the team was willing to forgo Mixon’s recent off-field issues, something that wasn’t as clear when team executive vice president Katie Blackburn was asked about his situation back in March. “I don’t want to get into how that might end up, so I don’t know that it’s fair to say anything,” she said in March. “But I think it will get resolved, hopefully fairly soon. He’s done a lot of great things for the team. I think he’s still got a lot of great production in him, so I hope his other issues all get resolved in a positive way.” Either way you cut it, the Bengals have now managed to retain the core of the team that made it to AFC Championship Game in the last two consecutive seasons. What’s more, is that the group is young and in all fairness was within touching distance of a Super Bowl title in 2021, when they lost to the Rams 23-20 in the big game. This is all to say, this is good news.