The Houston Texans want to keep their newly-acquired running back for a while longer. According to ESPN, the Texans will sign Joe Mixon to a three-year, $27 million contract extension that contains $13 million in guarantees.
The Texans acquired Mixon from the Bengals earlier this week in exchange for a seventh-round pick. He was set to carry a $2.2 million base salary for the 2024 season, and along with his various bonuses, count for $6.1 million against the cap.
Now, he'll get an extension that makes him the league's seventh-highest paid running back in terms of average annual value on a deal that will cover his ages 28 to 30 seasons.
It seems like a strange decision from the Texans to hand him this deal, given that Mixon has not exceeded 4.1 yards per carry since 2018 and is heading into a portion of his career where running backs typically hit a steep decline. He's proven himself capable of handling significant volume, but he has not been very efficient or explosive as either a runner or receiver in some time now.
That said, the Texans had one of the NFL's best offenses last season under rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, and they apparently feel like Mixon can help give them a lift throughout the remainder of Stroud's rookie contract. Time will tell whether or not they are right about that, but Mixon will reap the financial benefits either way.
