Joe Mixon is under contract with the Houston Texans for 2026.
It doesn't seem all that likely he'll still be in town, though.
Mixon is now set to miss the entire 2025 season after an offseason foot/ankle injury. He didn't get to follow up his strong 2024 with an encore.
When the Texans signed Mixon before 2024, it was to a three-year contract. But they made it relatively easy to get out of the deal after two seasons.
Mixon would get paid a total of $10.5 million in salary and bonuses if he spent the entire 2026 season with the Texans. But if he's cut, it's only a dead cap hit of $2 million.
In other words, $8.5 million in savings by cutting Mixon and not having him on the team in 2026. Seems simple enough, right?
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The Texans surely know more about the injury than anyone on the outside, so they'd also know if there's any chance of Mixon just coming back to be his normal self.
But given the emergence of rookie RB Woody Marks to potentially lead the backfield into the future, Mixon seems a lot less important.
Mixon will turn 30 before next season gets underway, too, the supposed nightmare age for running backs.
Coming off this injury, not only is Mixon likely to be cut, but he's unlikely to find anything but a small prove-it contract in free agency. He'll have to prove he can still play both at his age and coming off this mysterious injury.
It just doesn't seem very likely that'll be in a Texans uniform.
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