The Panthers and McCaffrey, whose rookie contract ran through 2020 with a fifth-year option in 2021, agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $64 million, giving him an average salary of $16 million that tops the running back pay scale.
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Mixon, who the Bengals selected in the second round of the 2017 draft, is coming up on the final year of his rookie contract as well. In December, Mixon told the Dayton Daily News and other media outlets he hadn’t really thought about an extension yet but noted “the ball is in their (the front office) court.”
“I just hope I’ve put up enough tape for them to believe in me to want me back, you know what I’m saying? I don’t know their thought process,” Mixon said on Dec. 30. “If I did, I mean, I’d love to. At the end of the day, no matter what happens, I know I gave my all out there. I know what kind of (running) back I am. I hope they know. We’re going to see, man. I don’t know anything about logistics or anything like that. But we’re going to see.”
Asked if he would show up for offseason workouts without a new deal, Mixon said during that December interview that he wasn’t sure.
“At the end of the day, I’ve always been all about the team,” Mixon said. “But if it comes to a point where I gotta think about me, that’s just what’s going to have to happen. But like I said, I hope the best. I hope we work something out. Like I said, I haven’t really thought that stuff over but I will go talk to my agent, have a talk with him. That’s what I pay him for, to talk to the upstairs people for that. Like I said, the ball is in their court. I’m not pressed over no contract, none of that. At the end of the day, I just gotta continue to be me and hope for the best. Like I said, the ball is in their court.”
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McCaffrey has now set a new bar for running backs, though. Despite struggles on the offensive line, Mixon managed back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons the past two years.
“I’m going to lean on my agent and what he thinks is best,” Mixon said in December. “I want to be back. I’m sure they want me back. I’m sure the fans want me back. But at the end of the day, the ball is in their court. I can’t control nothing that they do. Like I said, I pay my agent for that type of stuff, for him to take care of it. I’m sure we’ll have a conversation about it. So we’re going to see.”
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