TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2026 — Joe Mixon’s NFL comeback ended before it could really begin. One day after multiple reports said the veteran running back would sign with the Seattle Seahawks’ practice squad, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Tuesday that the deal is off: the Seahawks decided not to sign Mixon after he underwent a team physical, and the nine-year veteran remains a free agent.
The timelineDone deal — until it wasn’t
The whiplash played out over roughly 48 hours. On Sunday, ahead of Seattle’s Week 4 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Seahawks hosted Mixon for a visit, Seahawks Wire reported. On Monday, Mixon worked out for the team, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler — and by Monday afternoon, multiple reports said the sides had a practice-squad agreement in place. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald confirmed the interest without confirming the deal, saying Monday that Mixon was “going through the process.” Seattle went on to beat the Chargers 30-23 on Sunday despite its thinning backfield.
Then came the reversal. On Tuesday, Schefter reported that Seattle will not be signing Mixon to its practice squad after all, with the decision coming after Mixon’s physical with the team. Neither the Seahawks nor Mixon’s camp has publicly detailed what the exam showed — but the New York Post noted that a championship contender backing out after a physical could be a telling sign about his health.
The rosterWhy Seattle moved so fast
The urgency was real. Seattle’s backfield has been battered: rookie Jadarian Price was placed on injured reserve with a chest injury, and veteran Zach Charbonnet is still on the PUP list recovering from a torn ACL he suffered during the team’s divisional-round win over the 49ers last January. Kenneth Walker, the Super Bowl MVP, left for the Chiefs in free agency, leaving the defending champions thin at the position they rode to a title.
As things stand, Emanuel Wilson and George Holani are Seattle’s top two backs until Charbonnet returns, and the team elevated Velus Jones Jr. as the third back for Week 5, USA Today’s For The Win reported. The Seahawks also signed Robert Henry off the Commanders’ practice squad on Monday — and because he came from another team’s practice squad, he must remain on Seattle’s 53-man roster for at least three weeks, Pro Football Rumors noted. The backfield shuffle is part of a brutal injury week across the league, with stars going down everywhere.
The injuryA mysterious foot injury and a lost year
The physical is the latest chapter in one of the stranger injury sagas in recent NFL history. Mixon’s last full season — 2024 in Houston — was genuinely good: 1,016 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, plus 36 catches for 309 yards and another score, in 14 games. Then came the 2025 offseason, when Mixon suffered what Texans general manager Nick Caserio called a “freak” foot injury away from the team’s facility, USA Today reported. He spent the entire 2025 season on Houston’s reserve/non-football-injury list — the injury reportedly required surgery, per Pro Football Rumors — and the Texans released him in March.
The summer brought grim whispers. In July, KPRC Texans reporter Aaron Wilson said Mixon had told former Bengals teammates he believed his NFL career was over. “He has not filed his retirement papers,” Wilson said, via the New York Post. “He has told former teammates from the Bengals that his career is over. I had a source close to Joe tell me recently there’s some hope, but I think it’s probably over.” Monday’s rumored workout represented his first path back into the league — and Tuesday’s failed physical suggests the foot trouble is still the story.
The careerWhat Mixon has already done
Whatever comes next, Mixon’s résumé is real. The 2017 second-round pick spent his first seven NFL seasons with the Bengals, rolling up 6,412 rushing yards and 2,139 receiving yards with 62 combined touchdowns over 97 games, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. He topped 1,000 rushing yards in five of those seasons, per Pro Football Rumors. Cincinnati traded him to Houston in March 2024 for a 2024 seventh-round draft pick, and he rewarded the Texans with a Pro Bowl season in his first year in the system — 12 total touchdowns and a playoff run that ended in a divisional-round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on January 18, 2025, his last NFL game.
NextWhat’s left for the veteran back
Mixon remains a free agent, and at 30 years old with nearly two full years away from game action, the road back is narrow. Teams with running back injuries will keep his name on the list — the league always calls veterans when the wire gets thin — but the Seattle outcome is the clearest data point yet on where his body actually stands. Nobody has publicly said what the physical flagged, and the exact nature of the foot injury was never detailed by Mixon or the Texans. For now, the comeback that looked done on Monday is back to a question mark, and Mixon’s career — which he himself reportedly considered finished in July — is once again waiting on his feet.
Sources
- Cincinnati Enquirer “Ex-Bengals RB Joe Mixon isn’t signing with Seahawks after all — report” — Schefter’s October 6 report, the team physical, practice-squad reporting, Mixon’s career numbers and the March 2024 trade
- Pro Football Rumors “Seahawks Not Signing RB Joe Mixon” — the failed physical, the 2025 foot surgery, the reserve/NFI stint, the Robert Henry signing
- USA Today “Seahawks back out of Joe Mixon deal, per reports. Here’s why” — Caserio’s “freak” injury account, the March release, the 2024 stat line, Seattle’s running-back situation
- New York Post “Seahawks pull about-face on Joe Mixon signing in surprise twist” — Aaron Wilson’s July report on Mixon telling teammates his career was over, Macdonald’s “going through the process” comment
