Uh oh Joe Mixon

[Eraserhead]

I remember someone saying MANY times that the Bengals told Samaje that Joe would be the guy and that's the reason he left.

Samaje has come out and said he had no idea what the Bengals were going to do with Mixon, but basically, he didn't want to stay and end up being in the same situation,,

“I felt like it was time for me to branch out and start something new, to try to make even more of a name for myself with a new program,” Perine said, via Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette. “I just felt it was time for me to make a name for myself wanting to do more offensively just because I didn’t know what they were going to do with Joe. Obviously, he’s still a great back. I know how it goes when you’re paying your lead guy X amount of money, so they’re going to get their work out of him, I don’t blame him. You know good stuff happens when Joe touches the ball, but I just didn’t want to get stuck in that cycle that he’s getting 75, 80, 90 percent of the touches and just stuck with leftovers on third down.”

So he didn't really know if Joe would still be the guy or not, but it would've been a gamble to stay because he could end up in the same situation, probably even if they cut Mixon and signed or drafted someone.