The Houston Texans shouldn't have given Joe Mixon a new contract without proving himself first

Yikes, Joe Mixon is really taking more from the Houston Texans than the team should be giving up. Mixon was acquired by the Houston Texans for a seventh-round pick earlier in the week. A move that wasn't bad at all, until you realize that the Bengals were about to release him, so trading for him seemed rather short-sighted, when you need every draft pick you can get. Then you realize that the team still hasn't upgraded the offensive line yet, a bad move when you consider Mixon isn't an elite running back.

A guy like Nick Chubb, Christian McCaffery, or Derrick Henry can probably make it due to a subpar offensive line, Devin Singletary sure did, but Mixon hasn't been that guy in his career. Whether it's his inability to find the holes, his lack of quickness to get to the holes that were opened, or just the sheer inability to block for Mixon, the combination of bad blocking and unimpressive running made Mixon look average at best at times in Cincinnati.

He's not a bad move on his own, despite his issues off the field, but he's a downgrade from Singletary. Those who like the move have their own reasons, no doubt, but after watching him play in the AFC North since he got drafted, it's clear he's not the franchise running back that some others who were available this season were.

He's had several seasons in his career where he averaged less than four yards per carry, with his best rushing season coming back in 2018. He averaged 4.9 yards per carry that season, but since then he's averaged just above 4.0 yards per carry. That may seem like a great figure, but look at the Cleveland Browns' Nick Chubb, who has never had a YPC under 5.0. Christian McCaffery averages around five yards per carry, (4.8 for his career).

Mixon is lucky to break the 4.0 barrier. If Mixon were younger (he'll be 28 in July), wasn't so long in the tooth for running backs (entering season eight), and had a better history of success, sure. Bring him in, but that's not the case. In fact, it's so not the case that Mixon shouldn't have been traded for, nor should he have been given a massive contract, which the Texans did.

The Texans gave Mixon a three-year deal worth $27 million, a bloated contract for a player who hasn't shown to be worth that type of money. If Mixon signed a one-year deal, for a few million on what was essentially a "prove-it" contract, it'd be easier to accept the move. Honestly. Yet, that's not what's been happening.

After watching Mixon play for years, he was never the guy the media hyped him up to be, and now with so many miles on his knees, and an offensive line not built for running the ball, this looks to be more like a sunk cost than ever before.

Hopefully, that's not the case, but this is a scenario that's happened far too many times in the NFL, where the aging vet gets a nice deal at the end of his career and never lives up to the contract. After all, if Mixon was "that" good, like so many Texans fans are hoping he'll be, why was he about to get released and ultimately only traded for a seventh-round pick? Another running back is going to be needed.