When it comes to RB Joe Mixon, the Cincinnati Bengals felt seven years was enough. Earlier this offseason, they traded the veteran to the Houston Texans for just a seventh-round draft pick. Even though he’s far from Cincinnati, he still hopes to be back one day. And that is the day the Bengals induct him into the team’s Ring of Honor, should that ever happen.
“You don’t really pay attention to that stuff as a player until it’s time to look back and reflect”, Mixon said, via the team’s website. “But I do feel like everything that has been in store with me as a Bengals player and to Bengals fans, I definitely hope to see myself in there. I was just fortunate to be with some great players and be one of those guys to be able to move the needle for Cincinnati”.
A 2017 second-round pick, Mixon came up just shy of 100 career regular-season games in a Bengals uniform. He rushed for 6,412 yards with 49 touchdowns, adding 2,139 receiving yards on 347 receptions and 13 more touchdowns. On top of that, he played in seven postseason games, totaling 582 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.
Now a former member of the Bengals who previously laughed off the idea they might release him before ultimately trading him, Mixon is looking to his next chapter. He will only be 28 years old in July, entering the league as a 20-year-old out of Oklahoma. Just last year he had one of his best seasons with 1,410 yards from scrimmage and 12 touchdowns. In theory, he should still have something left in the tank.
The Texans presumably think do. Not only did they acquire Mixon via trade, they signed him to an extension. He got two new years and nearly $20 million, now under contract through 2026. Houston, of course, is an up-and-coming team with Super Bowl aspirations and felt it lacked a running back.
As for the Bengals, they did add RB Zack Moss this offseason, and return Trayveon Williams and Chase Brown. Moss rushed for 794 yards on 183 carries with five touchdowns last year for the Indianapolis Colts. They evidently feel that’s enough to get by without Joe Mixon.
But how does he stack up in team history? Well, he ranks third all-time in rushing yards behind Corey Dillon (8,061) and James Brooks (6,447). He has the second-most rushing touchdowns behind FB Pete Johnson (64). And he has astonishingly few fumbles. With just six in his career, he’s the only one with at least 1,000 rushes in single-digit fumbles. No player with at least 500 rushes has fewer fumbles than Mixon.
The Bengals only opened their Ring of Honor in 2021 and have a small membership thus far. The initial class included Paul Brown, Ken Anderosn, Anthony Muñoz, and Ken Riley. Since then, they have added Willie Anderson, Isaac Curtis, Boomer Esiason, and Chad Johnson. Joe Mixon might be slightly behind these inaugural groups.
Voting is currently open through June 7 for the Bengals’ Ring of Honor class of 2024. Both Dillon and Brooks are on the ballot, by the way. If one gets in this year, that certainly helps Mixon’s case for the relatively distant future.
