NEW YORK — Former Dallas Cowboys standout Ezekiel Elliott was already a street free agent. Then the Minnesota Vikings cut Dalvin Cook. Now Joe Mixon has taken a pay cut to stay on the Cincinnati Bengals.
The running back market is in complete shambles as Saquon Barkley battles for a long-term contract with the Giants approaching Monday’s 4 p.m. deadline.
Mixon, 26, a three-time 1,000-yard rusher with a Super Bowl appearance, has played in 80 of 98 regular-season games over six years for Cincy. The $12 million average annual value on his contract ranks him fifth among all NFL backs — in the same range Barkley is aiming to join.
But with the Bengals on the verge of giving quarterback Joe Burrow a lucrative mega-deal, and Mixon’s production having dipped last season (1,255 total yards, nine TDs), Mixon did what was necessary to stay on the team.
The restructured contract drops his 2023 salary from $9.4 million to just under $6 million, according to multiple reports, with incentives that could earn Mixon up to $8 million, per ProFootballTalk.
Mixon is facing a misdemeanor charge stemming from a Jan. 21 road rage incident in which he allegedly pointed a gun at a woman and threatened to shoot her. So this isn’t exactly apples to apples comparing him to other backs like Barkley.
Still, let’s face it: NFL teams are in the winning business, often despite outside factors.
And in a climate where Barkley, the Raiders’ Josh Jacobs and the Cowboys’ Tony Pollard are currently on a one-year, $10.09 million franchise tag, Mixon’s pay cut certainly doesn’t encourage the Giants, Las Vegas or Dallas to pay any more at that position.
In Barkley’s defense, he was more productive last year (1,650 yards, 10 TDs) than Mixon, especially as a runner, averaging 4.4 yards per carry to Mixon’s 3.9.
Barkley also produced those numbers as the Giants’ top offensive weapon and the focal point of defenses’ game plans. The Bengals were sending Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins at opponents in the passing game.
Will Barkley’s unique value to the Giants’ roster make a difference in this cratered climate for the running back position, though?
It is possible Barkley and Jacobs might have to sit out training camps and holdout to take a stand not just for themselves but the entire running back position?
The clock is ticking, and those answers will come soon enough.
Kafka stays as Northwestern goes internal
Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka was in high demand on the NFL head coaching circuit after just one season in New York. He was a finalist for the Arizona Cardinals’ vacancy alongside Bengals DC Lou Anarumo before the Cards tampered and hired Philadelphia Eagles DC Jonathan Gannon.
So when Northwestern fired longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald recently due to hazing in his program, it was fair to wonder if Kafka, a former Northwestern standout QB, would receive an offer to take Fitzgerald’s place and revitalize a disgraced program.
The Wildcats are filling the job internally at the moment, promoting January hire defensive coordinator David Braun as interim coach. So it’s not happening now. But Northwestern will launch a search for a permanent successor and head coach, also.
So there’s a good chance Kafka’s market will heat up further after his second NFL year with the Giants, especially if the team achieves more success, perhaps with an overture coming from the college ranks.
Around the league
— Buffalo Bills wide receiver Gabe Davis and performance coach/trainer Bert Whigham opened The Draft Academy, a one-of-a-kind performance and recovery center, in Winter Park near Orlando, Fla., this week. The academy staff has worked with many of the biggest names in the NFL, including the Giants’ Barkley, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, Chargers edge Khalil Mack and Titans RB Derrick Henry. Giants WR Isaiah Hodgins, Bills LB Matt Milano and RB Latavius Murray, and Eagles RB Kenneth Gainwell were among the players present alongside Davis to unveil the state-of-the-art Draft Academy facility that boasts innovative and cutting-edge treatments and protocols to help injured athletes recover and heal.
— Nobody wants to hear the Jets whining about being on HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” because you know who will love seeing the team on it? Owner Woody Johnson. The Jets are poised to possibly become the center of the NFL universe for a large chunk of the summer and fall and even the winter, too, if they win enough games. Johnson and the Jets, often a little brother to the Giants on the local and national stages, gained this prominence and publicity by trading for Aaron Rodgers. No doubt the Jets are concerned about the ability to control messaging with so many HBO cameras around their facility. This type of exposure could make things tougher on a coach like Robert Saleh, maybe in relation to stamping down the hype and keeping the players hungry. Johnson even expressed slight reservations about the reality show coming to Florham Park in the spring. But interest in the Jets is not a bad thing, and the club’s owner surely is well aware that it will help the bottom line. The Jets know from experience that irrelevance is much worse.
— The Ninth Annual Willie Colon Golf Outing supporting the Lupus Research Alliance tees off on Monday at the Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J. Colon, the Super Bowl champion former Pittsburgh Steeler and Jet, has enlisted a team of superstars including Rangers captain Jacob Trouba, former Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, former Knick JR Smith and more to join in the nearly 300 golfers helping the cause. The outing will benefit the Jean Davis Research Grant in memory of Willie’s late mother.
— Saints RB Alvin Kamara avoided a felony charge in Las Vegas by pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of breach of peace this week. Kamara, 27, and three other men had been indicted by a grand jury after being accused of beating a man and then stomping on him while he was unconscious. Kamara now must do 30 hours of community service and pay the alleged victim $105,000 for medical bills.
— Former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Malik Jackson, 33, has retired after 10 NFL seasons. Jackson helped the Broncos win Super Bowl 50 during his four years in Denver and played for the Jaguars, Eagles and Browns.
They said it
“My apologies… I got hacked.” — Chiefs receiver Kadarius Toney, claiming one of the many allegedly profane or inappropriate responses to Giants fans in a recent social media flurry were produced by someone else
