Bengals RB Joe Mixon talks pay cut rumors, relationship with front office
The offseason has certainly been busy for Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon. After helping the Bengals make a second consecutive AFC Championship game, the veteran running back has been involved in two off-field incidents, and the subject of cap casualty rumors with the team that drafted him six years ago. Rumors have made their […]
The offseason has certainly been busy for Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon. After helping the Bengals make a second consecutive AFC Championship game, the veteran running back has been involved in two off-field incidents, and the subject of cap casualty rumors with the team that drafted him six years ago.
Rumors have made their way into all corners of the Bengals community, but the 2021 Pro Bowl back has managed them in his own way.
"I mean, you hear a lot of noise, but at the same time when you don't pay attention and when you don't see it, none of that affects you," Mixon told All Bengals' Elise Jessie at his annual youth football camp in Greater Cincinnati.
Mixon, who's set to start in the Bengals' backfield for the sixth straight season, was not at his best in 2022. Offensive line troubles compounded with a down year statistically that opened up discussions regarding his future with the team. The on-going investigation regarding his not guilty plea to aggravated menacing charges from February only added fuel to the fire.
Talks of pay cuts, or a straight release off the team have dominated the conversation surrounding the 26-year old, but his focus has solely been on improvement in what is panning out to be a critical season for his career.
"They're entitled to their own opinion," Mixon said. "Sometimes it gets annoying, but at the same time, they're not me, so how can they understand? I'm just trying to do whatever I can. Like I said this year I'll continue to prove on why I belong, and why they signed me to what they did."
Mixon signed a four-year, $48 million extension with the Bengals in 2020. He has two years left of that deal remaining, and $20 million has yet to be paid to him. Mixon will be fifth-highest paid player on the roster from a cash perspective this year, until Joe Burrow and potentially Tee Higgins bump him down the list with their own extensions.
Whether or not Mixon sees the life of that deal remains to be seen, but his faith in the person who's at the top of the organization has yet to waver.
"Most importantly is Mike Brown, he comes up to me at practice. He's always happy to see me and that's the best feeling. It don't get no better than that," Mixon said of his relationship with the Bengals' president. "He's the owner, he makes the decisions and he embraced me since day one. And I love Mike and I know Mike loves me too. So it's a great thing to have that."
Back in March, Brown's daughter and executive VP Katie Blackburn made seemingly non-committal comments on Mixon's future with the team while his legal cases were still pending and NFL Draft had yet to arrive.
Two months later, Mixon is still on the team and under the same contract. His loyalty to the people upstairs remains what it's always been.
"I feel like our front office, everybody is great to me. Everybody has backed me 100 percent and that's a great feeling," Mixon said. "Just the love and the support that I get from them continuously, very appreciative. Words really don't explain the true feeling of what that means to me, so I'm just trying to try to keep on being the best me and in all phases of life, and just let everything play out was supposed to."
A pay cut for Mixon may or may not occur this offseason depending on the cap space required to extend both Burrow and Higgins. The Bengals will surely communicate with their starting running back if that becomes necessary, and Mixon has proven to be the person who's willing to do whatever it takes to benefit the team.
For as long as he's in stripes, No. 28 will be the upbeat character he's always been, blocking out the noise one run at a time.
Featured image via © Cara Owsley/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
