Joe Mixon breaks silence on rumors of Bengals exit after roller-coaster 2023 season

Joe Mixon ended his silence on rumors that he will leave the Cincinnati Bengals in the off-season.

Mixon began the year by restructuring his contract to a more team-friendly, incentive-based deal to remain with the Bengals. It was his seventh year in the NFL, all with Cincinnati, and the running back wants to remain with the team that drafted him.

With Mixon having a restructured deal, some have claimed that the running back will be cut this off-season as a cap casualty, as Cincinnati could save around $6 million by releasing the running back.

However,the Bengals running back shut down those rumors, as he has full confidence that he will be back in Cincinnati in 2024.

"Lmao y’all said this last year too. That’s (clown) behavior."

Based on Mixon's post, he sounded confident thaat he will be back with the Bengals in 2024 despite Cincinnati dealing with cap issues.

"I see the task at hand and what we're trying to build and in order to keep other players here and pieces here, sometimes you have to sacrifice," Mixon told the team's website. "I felt like this year was the year to sacrifice on the Super Bowl team we can potentially be.

"We agreed on a number with great compensation this year with the incentives," Mixon added. "Off my last deal, I feel like they allowed me to work to be able to make that money back."

After restructuring his contract last off-season, Mixon has one year left on his current deal.

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Joe Mixon's 2023 season

Joe Mixon rushed for nine touchdowns last season

Joe Mixon returned to the Cincinnati Bengals for the 2023 season and had success. He had 257 carries for 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns and also added 52 receptions for 376 yards and three touchdowns.

However, he struggled last season. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 16, Mixon rushed for just 16 yards on eight carries. Following the lackluster game, coach Zac Taylor defended him.

"This has nothing to do with Joe Mixon," Taylor said, via ESPN. "This is the entirety of the unit coming together.

"Don't make this about one person. It's not like there were missed opportunities there from what I could see. He continues to run hard, and he's given us what we needed this season."

Mixon was drafted with the 48th pick in the second round in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. He has played 97 overall games, recording 6,412 rushing yards and 49 rushing touchdowns, adding 2,139 receiving yards and 13 receiving touchdowns.