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Ben Baby, ESPN Staff Writer
CINCINNATI — One day after the Cincinnati Bengals‘ season officially ended, scenes inside their locker room offered reminders about the team’s upcoming reality.
Players traded jerseys with personalized messages, a tradition generally observed after games between players from opposing teams who are friends. Others bagged or boxed up their belongings and said their goodbyes before leaving town. And some offered words about an uncertain future.
One of them was defensive tackle DJ Reader, a cornerstone of Cincinnati’s rebuild. A right quad injury in Week 15 ended Reader’s fourth season with the Bengals and the final one under his current contract. Standing on crutches, Reader pondered the end of this current iteration of the Bengals and what free agency might look like for him.
And he had no idea.
“It’s kind of interesting,” Reader said Jan. 8. “I’m in the middle of [the COVID-19 pandemic] last time. This time, I’ll be in the middle of this [injury situation]. You never know. I don’t know how it’ll be.”
When free agency begins March 11, Reader will be one of a few key Bengals who could sign with a new club. According to OverTheCap.com, the Bengals will have a little less than $60 million in cap space.
And Cincinnati will have some important decisions to make ahead of a pivotal 2024 season.
DJ Reader
Position: Defensive tackle
Age: 29
2023 stats: 14 games, 20 tackles, one sack
Outlook: Don’t be fooled by the numbers. Reader was the first player the Bengals signed in 2020 free agency, a couple of months before drafting quarterback Joe Burrow with the No. 1 overall pick. Reader signed a four-year deal worth $53 million in what was then the most the Bengals had ever given to an external free agent.
Quad injuries ended his 2020 and 2023 seasons. But when he was healthy, he was a massive piece of Cincinnati’s success.
“He’s just such a leader, such a consistent force on the defensive line,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said after Reader’s season-ending injury.
Reader carried a $15.6 million cap charge in 2023, according to Roster Management System. It’s unclear what kind of market he will have coming off the injury. With Cincinnati incurring steep costs to maintain its offensive core, the Bengals will have to decide whether they can afford to have Reader back.
Position: Wide receiver
Age: 25
2023 stats: 12 games, 42 catches, 656 receiving yards, five receiving touchdowns
Outlook: Multiple factors led to Higgins’ least productive year with the Bengals. He battled a couple of serious injuries — a fractured rib in a Week 4 loss to the Tennessee Titans and a hamstring injury he suffered in a practice later in the season.
He also had to contend with not getting a long-term deal done before the start of the season.
Higgins caught 54.5% of his targets, the lowest catch rate of his career, according to ESPN Stats & Information. But his value was underscored in a Week 15 win over the Minnesota Vikings. With star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase leaving the end of the game because of a shoulder injury, Higgins stepped up and had four catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns, including an acrobatic 21-yard reception that was one of the top catches of the year.
Higgins is a prime candidate to receive the franchise tag, which the Bengals have used in two of the past three offseasons. In 2020, Cincinnati receiver A.J. Green played on the tag. Two years later, safety Jessie Bates III played on the tag and cashed in 2023, when he signed a four-year deal worth $64 million with the Atlanta Falcons.
Even with Chase in line for a massive contract extension soon, the Bengals can give Higgins a tag that is estimated to be worth $21.7 million by OverTheCap. Chase will be in the final year of his rookie contract in 2024, and Burrow’s cap charge doesn’t balloon until 2025. Burrow has already stated his desire to have Higgins back for at least one more season.
“I expect him to be back,” Burrow said Jan. 8. “I know everybody in the locker room wants him back.”
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson said on a podcast over the weekend that if Higgins does leave Cincinnati, he’d like to see his fellow-Clemson alum in Cleveland. Both are represented by agent David Mulugheta.
Position: Running back
Age: 27
2023 stats: 17 games, 257 carries, 1,034 rushing yards, nine rushing touchdowns
The outlook: Mixon faces an uncertain offseason for the second straight year. In 2023, Mixon accepted a renegotiated contract that lowered his salary cap charge to $8.4 million. The new deal featured a couple of important incentives, and he cashed in at the end of the season. He scored 12 total touchdowns, earning $350,000.
And by the numbers, he was certainly productive. Mixon amassed 1,410 scrimmage yards. Since 2015, that is the eighth-highest total posted by a running back in his seventh NFL season or later, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
But Mixon lacks the explosiveness that Cincinnati needs to punish opponents who are defending against Burrow and the Bengals’ passing game. Among running backs with at least 100 carries, Mixon ranked 15th on runs of 10 or more yards against light defensive boxes (six or fewer defenders).
That remains a point of emphasis for the Bengals this offseason. The Bengals will have to decide on Mixon’s contract early. He is due a $3 million roster bonus on March 18, the fifth day of the new league year. If the Bengals cut him before then, they will gain $5.8 million in cap savings.
While Mixon has been productive, Cincinnati is looking for more big plays on the ground in 2024, which could play a role in whether Mixon returns for his eighth season with the Bengals.
“I think this offseason we’ll be able to take a step,” Burrow said.