Oklahoma Teammates Samaje Perine And Joe Mixon Are Cincinnati Bengals Teammates No More

The Denver Broncos have signed Cincinnati Bengals running back Samaje Perine to a two-year deal worth $7.5 million, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

That means the breakup of the Bengals running back tandem of Perine and Joe Mixon, who were not only teammates in the NFL, but also at the University of Oklahoma.

“It was great playing with Perine. We’re a great one-two combo,” Mixon said. “By me knowing him and him knowing me, we obviously complement each other very well.”

Perine and Mixon both played at Oklahoma from 2014 to 2016. During his freshman season there, Perine set a Division-I record while running for 427 yards on 34 carries in one game.

After being suspended in 2014 for misdemeanor assault charges, Mixon would end his OU career by earning All-Big 12 honors in 2016 after gaining 1,274 rushing yards.

The Bengals drafted Mixon in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft, and the then-Washington Redskins drafted Perine in the fourth round of that same draft before beginning two stints with Bengals — the last one came after he was claimed off waivers in 2020.

Mixon, though, is likely following Perine out the door.

Mixon, 26, is under contract with the Bengals through the 2024 season, but Cincinnati can save about $10 million if it designates Mixon as a post-June 1 cut.

After finishing 29th in rushing offense last season, the Bengals need more from their running game this season.

Perhaps making him more disposable, Mixon also could face potential legal issues after an alleged shooting at his home this month.

So the Bengals could be without their top two running backs — the former college teammates who meshed so well — from last year.

“He used to pound on the defense,” Mixon said. “And I used to just slice and dice through them.”

While Mixon had more speed and elusiveness, Perine did the pounding for good reason. At the 2017 NFL Combine, he bench pressed 225 pounds 30 times, a number that surpassed all but four offensive linemen that year.

His feats of strength in college almost sound mythological. A woman once needed to change a flat tire but didn’t have a carjack, so he lifted up the Smart Car for her.

Despite the power that lent itself to running up the gut, Perine was also good in the pass game especially as a third-down pass blocker.

That often led to him being on the field more than Mixon in those situations.

It’s part of the reason that in the AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs in late January, Perine received more snaps (65 percent) then Mixon’s 35 percent.

During the Bengals’ Week 13 win against the Chiefs, Perine rushed 21 times for 106 yards.

In the previous year’s AFC Championship Game, Perine caught a pass and ran 41 yards for a second-quarter touchdown. Showing his yard-after-catch ability, he had a 0.5% chance of scoring a touchdown when he caught the pass, according to Zebra Technologies.

But the college teammates once again complemented each other in that watershed game for the franchise. While leading all rushers with 88 yards in that victory, Mixon helped send the Bengals to Super Bowl LVI.

“They have two great backs, man,” Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton said. “I watched them both a lot at OU and I watched them to continue to play together in the league. And they’re complete opposites in terms of the skillsets they bring to the offense, but they’re still both hard tackles and hard outs.”

In their last year together, Mixon started 14 games and had 210 carries for 814 yards (a 3.9-yard average) and seven touchdowns and caught 60 passes for 441 yards and two touchdowns. Perine started two games in 2022, rushing 95 times for 394 yards (a 4.1 average) and caught 38 passes for 287 yards and four touchdowns.

“There’s been countless memories,” Mixon said.