The Bills signed several of their rising stars to contract extensions over the past several weeks, including WR Khalil Shakir, DE Greg Rousseau, LB Terrel Bernard and CB Christian Benford – all of whom were set to enter the final year of their contract.
One name missing from that list is RB James Cook, who is set to earn about $5.3 million this season in the last year of his rookie contract.
Cook tied for the league lead with 16 rushing touchdowns in 2024 and made his second consecutive Pro Bowl. After the season, he made repeated references on social media indicating he was seeking a contract extension worth $15 million per year. That figure would rank third in average value among all running backs, and it exceeds the current price of the running back franchise tag ($13.64 million).
Bills GM Brandon Beane described Cook as “a beautiful man” at the NFL Combine in February but added he would “prefer we don’t take the business outside,” referencing Cook’s social media posts.
But as the calendar turns to April, the sides still appear far apart on an agreement.
“His reps and him did put it out there that we did talk, so I’m not sharing anything new. It didn’t lead to anything as far as closing in on a deal, so we moved onto the guys that we were more on the same page with,” Beane told reporters Sunday at the NFL’s annual league meeting. “At this point, we’re on to the draft, once we got Benford done. I don’t see us doing any deals anytime soon. We’re going to focus on the draft and getting our [salary] cap in order.”
This week, Cook’s Orchard Park residence went up for sale, complete with photos of game balls and framed jerseys in the listing. Records show the property was purchased in 2022 by a Minnesota LLC owned by Cook’s brother, former Vikings star Dalvin Cook.
The photos suggest Cook isn’t ready to move out immediately. Perhaps he’s looking for more space, or a different color scheme. But as it stands, Cook could be playing for a different team in a different city 11 months from now. It makes sense for him to plan for that possibly – and to posture to the team to envision that reality.
“Just because we don’t have James signed today doesn’t mean next year we still can’t get a deal done before he gets to free agency,” Beane said Sunday.
“Jimbo’s a pro. I respect him and love him to death. I’m sure he’s gonna want to come out and prove the value that he and his reps put on him — hey, let me show you. If we’re not there, I’m going to go out and do it again. He’d be showing us, and obviously showing the whole league as well. We want him to have success. We’re rooting for him. We want nothing more [than] for James to continue being a Buffalo Bill well past this season. But we are where we are.”