The Bengals have agreed to terms with former Colts RB Zack Moss on a 2 year/$8M deal. Following this move, the team will be releasing RB Joe Mixon.
UPDATE, 3/12/2024: Rather than releasing Mixon, the Bengals will actually be trading Joe Mixon to the Houston Texans. As of the time of this update, compensation has not been announced, but these types of trades usually bring back a late round pick or result in a pick swap, which would see the Bengals move up a little in one of the later rounds.
UPDATE #2, 3/12/2024: The Bengals will receive a conditional 7th round pick from the Texans. Houston has three 7th round picks in this year’s draft, so I would expect the condition to be something that could be met before that, like him passing his physical, as opposed to a condition like him making the final roster, which would mean the pick is from a future year.
Moss comes to Cincy off the back of a career year with the Colts, which he largely spent filling in for Jonathan Taylor as the starter. He totaled 794 yards and 5 TD’s rushing on the year, while adding another 192 yards and 2 TD’s through the air.
This addition helps the Bengals get younger at the position, and probably more explosive, given the stage of his career that Mixon is in. But something that should not be forgotten about is the pass protection side of it. This is an area where Mixon has always struggled, and Moss is a significant upgrade in pass protection.
By releasing Mixon, the Bengals save $6.1M against the cap. He was due a roster bonus in the coming days, so we knew a decision on him was going to come around this time. Mixon originally joined the Bengals as a 2nd round pick in 2017.
With Mixon’s release, it is the end of an era. He spent 7 years with the team, becoming one of the franchise’s best RB’s in its history over that span. Mixon had four 1,000 yard rushing seasons in Cincinnati and was a big part of the team’s Super Bowl run in 2021. His 6,412 rushing yards are good for 3rd most in Bengals history. In his career thus far, he has also accounted for 49 rushing TD’s, 2,139 receiving yards, and 13 receiving TD’s.
During his time with the Bengals Mixon became a heart and soul player, providing value in more ways than just his contributions on the field. His leadership on and off the field will be missed.
Featured Image Via: Erik Drost (CC)