Bengals GM addresses Joe Mixon's future in Cincinnati
Mixon is coming off of his fourth career 1,000 yard season.
Cincinnati Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin, the team's de facto general manager, addressed running back Joe Mixon's future in Cincinnati while speaking with media members at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
Mixon is coming off of a productive season for the Bengals in which he ran for 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns. He also has a $3 million roster bonus for next season which becomes fully guaranteed on March 18. So, there's been some speculation that the team could look to cut ties before then.
When asked about that, Tobin was very complimentary of Mixon's play last season while also remaining very noncommittal regarding his future.
"I can tell you his role this past year was good," Tobin said. "He had a really good season for us. I was proud of him, over 1,000 yards, double-digit touchdowns, and was a big factor for us. In terms of predicting anybody's role going forward, I'm not going to do that up here on the podium.
"Those are roster-building strategies and those are things that we're talking through as this whole thing unfolds with every player on our roster," he added. "It's not specific to just one. Really proud of Joe and the season he had. He did a lot of things to help us get to a point where we had a chance and we didn't get over the hump but he put us in a position to have a chance."
Tobin is obviously well aware of the roster bonus and the date attached to it -- he's the one who signed the deal after all -- and he doesn't view it as an issue when it comes to Cincinnati's offseason approach.
"It doesn't complicate it," Tobin said. "We put it in there for a reason. And his agent wanted it in there for a reason. From our strategy standpoint and what we intend to do, I'm not going to get into that with any of our players."
The increase in the NFL's salary cap for next season afforded the Bengals with some additional financial flexibility to work with over the offseason. Maybe they'll use some of that space to keep Mixon in town. We'll find out soon enough.
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