The Cincinnati Bengals are going to have to cut players in order to afford lucrative contract extensions for Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase.

Judging by the words of Duke Tobin, Joe Mixon could be among the cap casualties for the Bengals very soon.

"Joe has been a vital part of our team," Tobin said. "He's been a successful part of our team. Again, I'm not gonna predict the offseason because I don't have the answers. In the words of the great Kevin Malone (a character from The Office), 'I don't know.'"

Mixon is due to count nearly $12.8 million against the salary cap in 2023.

"We'll all see as the offseason goes, what we're able to get done and how the resources are spread around," Tobin said. "But Joe's been a vital part of our team, a successful part, a contributing part. And my job is to try to keep as many of those pieces around as we can."

Cutting or trading Mixon before June 1 would incur a dead-money hit of $5.5 million but result in almost $7.3 million in cap space.

Designating Mixon as a post-June 1 transaction would be more friendly for the Bengals, with a dead-money hit of $2.75 million and salary-cap savings of just over $10 million.