The Buffalo Bills usually tend to stay out of ongoing or potential drama involving their players. They aren’t perfect whatsoever, but Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane have done a great job at making sure that any issues that arise stay within the team and not get leaked to the media.
In recent memory, the only big ongoing issue involved drama regarding former Bills wideout Stefon Diggs. Buffalo would end up trading Diggs to the Houston Texans last April and looks like the Bills won the better end of that trade.
After a strong 2024 season that almost earned them a trip to the Super Bowl, the Bills will need to make some roster adjustments to get over the playoff hump. However, there have been talks involving one of their rising star players who is looking to cash in with near-the-top market value.
Running back James Cook, as well as his brother Dalvin Cook, have been very vocal about how James should get paid and how it should be near or at the top dollar value. Recently on Instagram, Cook mentioned how he would like $15 million per year.
Bills cannot afford to mess around with extending James Cook
There are two different ways of looking at this situation. First, the Bills don’t need to be part of ongoing drama with one of their best players. Sure, running backs have become devalued over the years. However, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and Josh Jacobs all changed that narrative this year.
All of these players signed with their new respective teams and were amongst the best in the league. They didn’t get top dollar value and they shined. Cook can easily make the argument that without those three running backs doing what they did on their new teams, that wouldn’t have been as successful this past season.
Secondly, Cook has been fantastic for the Bills the last two seasons. Starting off with the fact that he rushed for back-to-back 1,000+ yards, he became the first Bills running back to rush for 1,000 yards since LeSean McCoy. He finished with 20+ total touchdowns this year, with 16 rushing touchdowns in the regular season.
Averaging 4.9 yards per carry this past season, Cook was a crucial member to Buffalo’s rushing attack. For so long, before Cook arrived to Buffalo, the Bills were Josh Allen-dependent on the ground. Even though he can run it himself, he should not be taking the majority of the carries. Cook takes enormous amounts of pressure off of the offense with his ability to get to the second level and establish the run.
Who cares if this is a focus on the running back position…teams are better off finding a way to keep their best players and Cook is one of them for the Bills. After Allen, Cook is the next player that defenses have to gameplan for. Can he improve? Absolutely. At the same time, he’s already been the best back for the Bills since LeSean McCoy.
It doesn’t hurt for Beane to have a conversation about maybe lowering the price that Cook is asking for. At the same time, he cannot afford to mess around with this situation and risk losing Cook after the 2025 season.