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

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!

The Cincinnati Bengals have to be disappointed to not be in the playoffs. After consecutive seasons with appearances in the AFC Championship, with one of those leading to a Super Bowl appearance. Every year is a precious opportunity to contend for a Super Bowl, but that just wasn’t in the cards for the Bengals in 2023. Injuries to Joe Burrow in training camp as well as the second half of the season and wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins put the Bengals in a hole they could not get out of.

But the good news for the Bengals is they have plenty of avenues to improve their team in 2024. One of those is through the draft. Cincinnati owns the 18th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and should be able to land an instant contributor with that pick. The team has a few glaring holes that need addressing. A couple of draft prospects stand out as options for the Bengals to look at during the 2024 NFL Draft that can help them next season.

Byron Murphy, Defensive Lineman

The Bengals’ run defense was putrid in the 2023 season. Cincinnati ranked 25th in the NFL in EPA allowed per rush this season, ahead of only the San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, and Carolina Panthers. Running backs had some big games against the Bengals to close the season. Players like Ty Chandler (23 carries 132 yards and a touchdown) and Isiah Pacheco (18 carries, 130 yards; 7 receptions 35 yards) gashed the Bengals on the ground and that was a trend all season long. The Bengals’ best run stuffer in DJ Reader tore his ACL as well, which didn’t help matters.

Someone who could help? Texas’ Byron Murphy. Murphy is a load up front against the run with a physical style reminiscent of former Bengal run stuffer Geno Atkins. But Murphy also adds value as a pass rusher. Not only did he produce five sacks in the 2023 season, but he also generated 36 pressures, which ranked fourth in all of college football. The Bengals badly need a difference-maker in the middle of their defensive line. That guy just might be Byron Murphy.

What’s better than one Texas Longhorn? Two! The Bengals are chock-full of playmakers on offense, from Ja’Marr Chase to Tee Higgins to Joe Mixon and even Tyler Boyd and a plethora of young, interesting receivers. Higgins and Boyd are going to be free agents, but it seems likely that Higgins will stick around one way or another. Boyd could be gone, but rookies like Charlie Jones and Andrei Iosivas have already shown they can step up and make plays.

If the Bengals want to add to their offensive arsenal, it would be wise to do so at tight end. While Tanner Hudson came on at the end of the season at that position, he’s also a journeyman who hasn’t been able to find a spot in the NFL. The Bengals don’t have a long-term answer at that position yet. Texas’ Ja’Tavion Sanders could be that guy.

The Bengals are almost certainly out of the Brock Bowers sweepstakes, but Sanders is probably the next-best tight end in this draft. He can be a matchup nightmare at 6-4 243 pounds with all the attention that Chase and Higgins garner. In two seasons at Texas, Sanders brought in 99 balls for 1,295 yards and seven touchdowns. That’s roughly the same production Sam LaPorta put up during his final two seasons at Iowa. Granted, there is a big difference in Texas and Iowa’s passing attacks, but still. Sanders looks the part of a legit tight end. In the second round, the Bengals could snag him and make their pass attack even more difficult to stop.