At the very least, the Texans plan to retain their new running back for a few more seasons.
Following Joe Mixon’s trade from the Bengals to the Texans earlier in the week, the two teams reached an agreement on a three-year, $27 million deal extension, as reported by ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter.
Schefter also stated that $13 million in guaranteed funds is part of the transaction.
Even though Mixon, 27, did not truly enter the free agent market this offseason, he did receive an extension worth $9 million AAV, which is slightly less than what the top running backs have received this offseason, following the signings of Josh Jacobs ($12 million AAV) with the Packers and Saquon Barkley ($12.58 million AAV) with the Eagles.
While the Bengals had originally intended to cut Mixon this week after reaching an agreement with running back Zack Moss, they ended up trading him to the Texans. “It took that 24 to 48 hours to hurt. It took a while and I’m still having emotional feelings about it. That’s the place [Cincinnati] where I could forever feel like that’s home for me and I’m just very grateful that the fans, they embraced me the way that they did,” Mixon said of the trade in a Thursday interview with reporters.
In addition, Mixon expressed his excitement for his new team, Houston, and said the squad had tremendous potential after advancing to the second round of the playoffs last year with to a stellar campaign by quarterback C.J. Stroud, the Rookie of the Year.
Since joining the league, Mixon, a second-round selection in 2017, has amassed 1,000 or more running yards in four different seasons. His most recent season saw him earn 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground in 2023.
