Desperate times call for Joe Mixon.
With their running back room falling apart, the Seattle Seahawks pulled the trigger on Mixon, the 30-year-old veteran, Monday after bringing him in for a quick workout in the Pacific Northwest, according to multiple reports.
Even coming off a 30-23 Week 4 victory over the Chargers to move to 3-1, Seattle’s backfield is running on fumes. Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III left in free agency, and first-round rookie Jadarian Price was just placed on injured reserve.
Mixon spent all of 2025 on the shelf recovering from a severe foot injury suffered right after a 1,000-yard Pro Bowl campaign with the Houston Texans in 2024. He will start on the practice squad to work into shape, putting any immediate field time on hold.
An aging runner coming off a year on the sideline is already a tough sell in today’s NFL, but a thick file of off-field headlines dating back to college makes it even harder.
In 2014, video showed Mixon punching Oklahoma student Amelia Molitor and breaking four bones in her face. Oklahoma suspended him for the season. He later entered an Alford plea and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service. Several NFL teams reportedly took Mixon off their draft boards before the Bengals selected him in the second round in 2017.
THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!
The legal headlines followed him into the pros.
In 2023, Mixon faced a misdemeanor aggravated-menacing charge in connection with a road-rage incident in Cincinnati, but a judge found him not guilty at trial.
Separately, in March 2023, a teenager playing a Nerf game near Mixon’s home was shot by Mixon’s sister’s boyfriend. Authorities did not charge Mixon, but the victim’s family sued him and the alleged shooter. The lawsuit was settled in 2025.
When he stays on the field, Mixon delivers.
In seven seasons with Cincinnati, he won the 2018 AFC rushing title with 1,168 yards and earned his first Pro Bowl selection in 2021, helping the Bengals reach Super Bowl LVI. Mixon threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgins in the game.
Mixon proved he still had plenty left in 2024 with Houston, rushing for 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns in 14 games to earn his second Pro Bowl selection.
After missing all of 2025, Mixon gets another chance in Seattle.
Seattle is banking on Mixon having enough gas left in the tank to bring some much-needed muscle to a battered running back room.
Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela
