The identity of the Buffalo Bills offense is Josh Allen by a mile. The superstar quarterback is the face of the Bills and has been the greatest quarterback that Buffalo has had since Jim Kelly. However, even superstars need a little bit of help as well. Ever since the Bills drafted Allen in 2018, he’s only had one true star player on the offense that has helped him grow as a player and that was Stefon Diggs.
From 2020-2023, Allen and Diggs were dynamic especially in the beginning. However, one thing that did hurt the passing game at times was the lack of a running game. While Devin Singletary wasn’t a bad back for the Bills, he was never truly a difference maker. Then in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Bills got themselves a major steal in running back James Cook out of Georgia.
Even though Cook didn’t start his rookie year, he still managed to rush for over 500 yards and had three total touchdowns. Fast forward to last season, Cook became the first Bills running back since LeSean McCoy to rush for over 1,000 yards. However, he still wasn’t scoring a lot of touchdowns (2 on the ground, 4 through the air). Then this past season…Cook was unleashed.
Not only did Cook rush for 1,000+ yards once again, but he was tied with Derrick Henry and Jahmyr Gibbs for the most rushing touchdowns (16). There were only five games where Cook didn’t get into the endzone and he averaged 4.9 yards per carry.
Over the last few years, running backs have been severely devalued in free agency. It seemed like once their rookie contract was up, they didn’t get paid what they were worth. However, Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry may have just changed that narrative this past season...
Bills must extend James Cook sooner than later
With one year remaining on his rookie deal, it would be foolish of Brandon Beane to not try to extend Cook. The last thing that the Bills need is to see a dynamic playmaker have a career year and have his price go up even more than what he’s already worth. Cook’s older brother, Dalvin, is vouching for his younger brother to get the bag, specifically $20 million per year.
$20,000,000 / yr 💰 https://t.co/qYtzqO70NL
— Dalvin “4️⃣” Cook (@dalvincook) January 27, 2025
I’m not saying that the Bills should offer Cook that kind of money, but he does deserve something that shows that Buffalo appreciates his services. Having Cook in this offense establishes the run and it takes a ton of pressure off of Josh Allen. For the longest time, the Bills didn’t have a big time playmaker in the backfield behind Allen. Now they have him in Cook and it would be wise for Buffalo to make him part of the future moving forward.