Joe Mixon May Hold Out

[samhain]

(04-15-2020, 11:42 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: Good points. RB was basically an after thought for me when it came to the draft. Now depending on how serious this is it just put RB back into the mix. I am normally a you draft a RB every year guy. But we drafted two last year so I was going to let it play out. Now I know we need to be on the lookout for value that falls at RB in the draft.

Our head coach just watched his old team struggle with releasing a young RB who they gave a giant contract to and put them in a bad financial situation. I don’t think he is going to be easy to convince paying huge money to a RB is worth it.

But I don’t think he would be better betting on himself. Another monster year and he could get a big payday. Or if Zeke and Run CMC struggle or if Mixon gets banged up he is looking at even more damage to his value. I would bet we are willing to give him a team friendly pay raise with a handsome sized guarantee. It won’t make him the highest paid RB. But it would set his family up for life and allow him to be a key piece on an up and coming contender for years to come.

I see your point.  My main reason for saying he should bet on himself is that I see the potential for him to do much more on paper than he has.  IMO that's what's keeping him from really being able to demand a top-end contract.  He's great and could possibly be a top 3 back in the league.  Unfortunately, he's had to run behind some piss-poor lines and endure 3 changes in philosophy form OL coaches.  He's also played on bad teams with depleted weapons for at least 2 years.

You can look at him and see that he has all of the physical tools.  He can run outside, inside, and he's a solid receiver.  I think a year with eye-popping yardage and TD numbers would boost a case for a bigger payout.  

As for Zeke and McCaffery, I'd make the assertion that Gurley and Freeman (to a lesser extent due to more tread on the tires) have made that point already.  Gurley in a big way.  He was one of the faces of the league in 2018 and just got tossed on the scrap heap.  

The elephant in the room for me is what might happen if he doesn't get a deal this year and ends up getting slapped with the tag next year.  In that case, I would understand him getting a bit pissy.  That's a situation I'd like to see avoided.

The best case scenario IMO is to extend him this offseason, but not at an insane rate.  4 years/50 mil neighborhood is what I'd shoot for.   That's more than enough to set him up for life without killing the cap.  I'd be perfectly willing to cut bait with Gio to get this done.  Pay him now before he goes off this season and absolutely will try to demand a McCaffrey-esque deal.