Will Joe Mixon be with the Bengals for the 2024 NFL season?

The decision will come sooner than you think.

Now that the Cincinnati Bengals 2023 season is over, it’s time to look forward to 2024.

The Bengals of the future will look different, for sure. While Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and most of the offensive line will be back on offense, we could see a team without Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, and Jonah Williams. All three are entering free agency, and while the Bengals might use the franchise tag on Higgins, there’s no guarantee that Boyd or Williams will be back.

Another possibility is a change at the running back position. Joe Mixon, who will be 28 in July, had a bounce-back year in 2023. After only gaining 814 yards on the ground in 2022, he averaged four yards per carry, scored nine rushing touchdowns, and gained 1,034 yards on the ground this season, adding 376 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns.

Once Joe Burrow went down with a wrist injury, the Bengals shifted focus and began to lean on the running game when they could, which helped the team go on a three-game winning streak that kept them in the playoff hunt all the way through Week 17.

Mixon restructured his contract after 2022, taking a pay cut. The Bengals will owe Mixon a roster bonus of $3 million on March 16th, just four days after the new league year begins, and it’s fully guaranteed.

So this means that if the Bengals decide to pair Chase Brown with a running back other than Mixon, that decision will come soon.

It’s not really right to say the Bengals are cheap anymore. Maybe once they were, but not now. What I will say is they’re smart with their money. They know how to spend it correctly.

I won’t weigh in right now on whether or not Mixon should be on the roster, but I will say if he’s on the roster on March 17, he’ll be on the team in September, barring some sort of injury.

So what do you think? Will Mixon be on the team in 2024? Let us know!