2023 NFL Owners Meetings: Katie Blackburn Updates Bengals Outlook On Joe Mixon

Katie Blackburn spoke with reporters at the NFL Owners Meetings this week and opened up about Joe Mixon's future with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Here's what she told The Enquirer's Kelsey Conway.

"You're laying out all the arguments and thoughts you can certainly weigh," Blackburn said. "You never know where things can go. But right now, he's there, and we're gonna plan like that until something different would happen for whatever reason. Like I said, I don't want to say anything's happening, because that's not fair. But you point out some things that at some point you might have to look at, maybe.

"So I don't want to say that can never happen. But I don't want to imply that that's happening. Those are all alternatives, and there are several other players, in theory, you could say the same thing about. But like I said, I don't want to send any message one way or another, because I don't think that would be fair. Right now, he's our starting guy. You've seen other teams have to make moves. Could we get to that point? Maybe. But it would be down the road here, and we'd have to see if that's what makes sense or not."

A cloudy picture remains for Mixon's future as the Bengals face the decision of whether or not to keep him at a $12.7 million cap hit in 2023.

If the team cuts him to go younger in the draft, they would save as much as $10.1 million against the cap. All of that money could be used in various extensions for players like Joe Burrow or Tee Higgins.

Yet, it's a decision the Bengals aren't quite ready to make.