Bengals Beat: Three Key Takeaways From Joe Mixon’s Pay Cut, Why Both Sides Stand To Win

CINCINNATI — Now that Joe Mixon has taken one for the team in the form of a $9.1 million pay cut over the remaining two seasons of his contract, it’s time to assess how this can impact the Bengals in a positive fashion going forward.

Mixon Makes Winning Statement:

After an offseason that featured a pair of legal issues early on, there was doubt as to whether the Bengals would want him back for a seventh season. If they did bring him back, the assumption was it would be at a significant pay-cut. Over the weekend, we found out just how significant it was. Mixon will take a $4.4 million cut this season from his $9.4 million salary for 2023 and a $4.7 million cut from his $9.6 million salary of 2024.

This restructure means that Mixon is guaranteed $10 million over the next two seasons and he is all but guaranteed a roster spot through the end of his current contract, when he will be 28.

“Joe’s goal is to win a Super Bowl and play his career in Cincinnati and this is the best way to accomplish these goals,” Mixon agent Peter Schaffer told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

That’s precisely the message Mixon needed to make, and his savvy agent knew this.

Mixon clearly wants to remain on a Super Bowl-contending roster where he is respected and loved inside the locker room. That’s worth a great deal to someone like Mixon, who was given a chance by Mike Brown coming out of Oklahoma.

Loyalty Has Its Rewards:

Some NFL owners – like New England’s Robert Kraft – wouldn’t have taken the chance on Mixon after his misdemeanor assault case involving a woman in his freshman year in Norman. But the Bengals, after doing their due diligence on the case – did. Some teams wouldn’t have kept Mixon on the roster at a $12.8 million cost and would’ve just taken the $10 million cap savings. But the Bengals did.

And some teams wouldn’t have kept Mixon on the roster after the two offseason legal issues but the Bengals did.

The Bengals see a very unique and valuable fit with Mixon on this roster, in this locker room and in this offense.

“His future is here with the team. I like Joe Mixon,” head coach Zac Taylor insisted after drafting Chase Brown out of Illinois in the fifth round.

Why the loyalty? Because Joe Mixon is just one season removed from career-highs in snaps (698), rushing yards (1,205), total TDs (16) and rushing TDs (13). Last year, he had his career game against Carolina when he had five of his nine touchdowns on the season.

And then there’s the attitude.

It may seem trivial but Mixon’s attitude has been nothing but professional throughout the offseason.

Even with two legal issues and uncertainty surrounding his future in stripes, Mixon has shown up at everything. He’s been there for workouts, meetings, offseason practices, OTAs and minicamp. Not a peep from him. His work ethic hasn’t changed.

The Bengals, no doubt, would like to see Mixon stay out of the news but they appreciate the way he has handled his business when he’s at work. This is why they believed in him in 2017. And they still do.

Back to the football. Remember what Mixon looked like against Buffalo in the playoffs? He had 20 carries for 105 yards and a game-sealing touchdown.

Also, Mixon had career highs in receptions (60) and receiving yards (441) so some of his production was purely a product of the system.

“I feel like we have a good mixture of guys,” Taylor added. “We’ve got three known quantities there with Mixon, Trayevon (Williams) and Chris (Evans),” Taylor added. “They all know the expectations there and now you get a chance to add another one, Chase, to the mix. He had a tremendous college career, two years over 1,000 yards. He almost led the NCAA in rushing this year, he just came up shy. He’s carried the load for those guys. We feel like he’s got great vision and balance as a runner and patience. I like what he’s going to bring to the room as well and then we’ll just see how it all shakes out from there.”

Mixon and Schaffer knew they didn’t have much PR leverage in this scenario, coming off a season in which he scored just but the Bengals also knew that they still needed a No. 1-type back who is still in great physical condition since fifth-rounder Chase Brown doesn’t figure to challenge for his job just yet.

Mixon essentially bought himself two more seasons on the Bengals roster for $10 million and the assurance that he’ll be on the team with Burrow for two more shots at a ring.

Bengals position themselves for the future:

This restructure was more about Tee Higgins and Joe Burrow as it was about keeping their running back. The Bengals knew they had to free up cap space to make a Tee Higgins extension more palatable to David Mulugheta, the same agent that represented Jessie Bates, who left for the Atlanta Falcons. The Bengals have never worked a deal with Mulugheta but these are the Bengals who are breaking down all historical barriers.

Before the Mixon restructure, the Bengals had about $15 million in cap space for 2023, give or take. After, they now have about $19 million. If one were to assume another $10 million cap add with a new Joe Burrow deal and a $7 million increase with a Tee Higgins extension, that puts the Bengals right in the neighborhood.

And remember Director of Personnel Duke Tobin indicated they basically had the first two years of that deal estimated. So, none of this will take the Bengals on a wild goose chase.

They won’t need to kick the can down the road and they will have brilliantly maneuvered all the pieces and have signed a new franchise left tackle in the offseason.

Yes, they would like to get linebacker Logan Wilson done as well. But they know they can’t get that done for sure until Burrow and Higgins are resolved.

You get those two pieces done, the cap rises some in 2024 and other contracts expire or cut, the Bengals will be in line to address Ja’Marr Chase.

See how this works? For all the hand-wringing about how the Bengals are up against it with young players, they have managed to keep all the pieces together. It took negotiation and compromise and a willingness from the player – in this case Mixon – to realistically assess the landscape in front of him and move forward.

It is indeed a new Dey in the Jungle.