As NFL free agency nears, Joe Mixon's future with the Cincinnati Bengals hangs in the balance. 

The Pro Bowl running back is coming off a pedestrian 2022 campaign in which he rushed for under four yards per carry and missed a handful of games due to injury. And with two years remaining on his contract, Cincinnati can feasibly release Mixon and save more salary cap space than they'd take on in dead cap.

It doesn't help Mixon's case that the Bengals were interested in several top running back prospects at this year's NFL combine, including early round hopefuls such as Alabama's Jahmyr Gibbs, and UCLA's Zach Charbonnet.

It's been a minute since the Bengals invested real draft capital in the running back position. Chris Evans was selected in 2021 late in the sixth round, but hasn't carved out a notable role with the offense. Travyeon Williams has stayed with the team since being drafted late in 2019, but is an impending free agent this year. Rodney Anderson and Mark Walton were both day three selections in 2019 and 2018, respectively, and neither one lasted long with the team for differing reasons.

That the club is taking any interest at all in some of the more notable running backs this year speaks volumes to what their plans are going forward. 

Uncertainty with Mixon's status was also heightened when de facto general manager Duke Tobin spoke on Mixon last week in Indianapolis.

"Joe has been a vital part of our team," Tobin said of his veteran running back. "Again, I'm not going to predict the offseason because I don't have the answers. In the words of the great Kevin Malone, 'I don't know', we'll all see as the offseason goes and what we're able to get done, and what the how the resources are spread around." 

A quote from The Office lets you know this is serious business.

Per NFL insider Jeremy Fowler, the team hasn't decided on Mixon's future just yet, and there's really no rush to do so from their perspective. The $7.3 million in potential cap space would be a nice boost, but any decision on Mixon should be made with a contingency plan already in place. 

There's also a trend worth pointing out. Mixon was selected in the second round of the 2017 Draft while both Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard were still carrying the pigskin for Cincinnati. Hill was a second-rounder drafted in 2014, a year after Bernard was taken in the same round when BenJarvus Green-Ellis was the incumbent starter.

The Bengals have made a habit of replacing their starting running backs a year ahead of time, and have kept the incumbent on the roster for that year.

It should not shock any Bengals fan to see the franchise try its hand at another second-round running back and pairing him with Mixon for one last ride in 2023. It's about the best scenario the 26-year old rusher can hope for at this point. 

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