Cincinnati Bengals brass at the scouting combine were very adamant about the future of Tee Higgins with the team.
On the subject of running back Joe Mixon…not so much.
Mixon is a top question mark for the team this offseason and therefore a major cut candidate for various reasons.
How the team actually handles the situation is impossible to say as of now, which director of player personnel Duke Tobin summed up well during his combine press conference.
“Joe has been a vital part of our team,” Tobin said. “He’s been a successful part of our team. Again, I’m not gonna predict the offseason because I don’t have the answers. In the words of the great Kevin Malone, ‘I don’t know.'”
Tobin going this far is actually out of the ordinary for him. The certainty on Higgins and exact opposite on Mixon is pretty telling about all options being on the table.
Were the Bengals to cut Mixon with a post-June 1 designation it would save them roughly $10 million. His bloated contract for the position and diminishing role on the offense due to struggles in pass protection make a cut seem like the main viable option.
Head coach Zac Taylor said it’s hard to predict what will happen, but offered high praise: “I think he’s given us great juice. He’s been a really good weapon for us and was voted a captain this year by the team.”
There’s still the possibility of a restructuring that lessens Mixon’s cap hit and lets him stay for 2023, but either way it seems clear the team knows it has to figure something out.
Duke Tobin addresses the media at the #NFLCombine https://t.co/ZGhGFtt0Na
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) February 28, 2023
