Bengals executive has brutal quote about Joe Mixon

Nov 17, 2019; Oakland, CA, USA; Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon (28) gestures on the sideline before the game against the Oakland Raiders at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Joe Mixon’s future with the Cincinnati Bengals looks fairly bleak based on comments made by a team executive.

Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn was asked about Mixon’s future at the NFL owners meetings this week, and her comments were notable for how non-committal they were. The audio made it sound even worse for Mixon.

Woof the difference between reading the answer and hearing it is astounding pic.twitter.com/8d1CEpvvQS

— John Sheeran (@John__Sheeran) March 30, 2023

“Right now, he’s on the team, and we are going to count on him until that wouldn’t be the case,” Blackburn said. “But yeah, he’s the guy. He’s done a lot of great things for the team. I think he’s still got a lot of production in him. I hope his other issues all get resolved in a positive way, but we’ll keep plugging along and hope that everything gets resolved for him one way or another.”

The number of long pauses and the amount of hesitation in Blackburn’s answer makes it pretty clear this is far from a ringing endorsement.

Mixon has had a troubled offseason. He was initially named as a suspect in a shooting incident at his home, though he was not charged and his agent said he acted as a peacemaker. He had also been accused of threatening a woman with a gun, though for the moment no charges have been filed.

Mixon rushed for 814 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022. He turns 27 in July and is entering the final guaranteed season of his contract.