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His agent is an idiot and put him in a bad spot. Some said it was his brother. Just a shame for James to have put himself and Beane in this spot with his first public comments and removing his Bills account.

Demanding 15 million dollars per year instead of ten when there is a salary cap is just greedy, IMO. Accept a little less, your teammates won’t have to be traded and maybe, just maybe, have a team strong enough to win the title. Ten million dollars per year will last so many lifetimes anyway.

Did he sign a contract??? Yes or no?? Enough said

I want him to honor his contract, participate in practice, stay off instagram with his negotiations, and avoid dramatic and cryptic responses to questions. Same standard I set for me and my team.

It's not so much the gerrymandered districts; it's the attempt to force through a quick/unprecedented redistricting in response to Trump's call to do so for purely partisan reasons. There is nothing to stop this from happening all around the country, including attempts to draw districts that result in two incumbents in one district. That happens sometimes, but due to population declines, etc., and not in response to a brazen/calculated attempt to rig the entire process. Sure, you can say this has always happened to a lesser degree and with lip service paid to things like shared community ties or Supreme Court-mandated racial concerns, but this is a step beyond. And as we've seen many times already, once one side gets away with it the floodgates are opened. Whatever one thinks of the Texas Dems, no one on either side should applaud this attempt to even further politicize redistricting. It is the ultimate "the congressman chooses his voters instead of the voters choosing their congressman." It's shameful and it ought to be called out as such.

The guy you need to compare him to is Big Ben IMO. And as he got beyond 30 he definitely changed his game. He was never a runner as such but he used to get outside the pocket at take licks in his 20s to try and make a play down the field and that faded away completely in his 30s. However, until the elbow surgery in year 17 for him he was still playing at a very high level. And his comeback the year after that he was still a serviceable game manager he just couldn't throw deep any more. I think Josh can have a long career. But he won't always be able to do some of the things that make him so unique.

Oh wow I see where the issue is now. Not worth debating more on it - if I thought that, I would also want him paid up to the max. He is an excellent player, who improved a lot, but I think a lot of people would disagree with you on that conclusion. And then add it's one of the positions with a much smaller fall off as you go down the list of players, so people (me included) will always think it's much easier to replace so no need to pay max

Which is what made it so nice to have Cook last year take a lot of those QB runs off of Allen's shoulders. Runs that Davis and Ty cant do.

He gets punished for being unavailable and has to provide three hours of free landscaping for Beane, McDermott, or the Pegulas.

Bills training camp is the equivalent to the largest buffet Shady Maple Smorgasbord in Lancaster PA as far as content goes. Literally all you can consume. It’s great

And players have the right to renegotiate their rookie contracts after 3 years of service.

The Bills are a better team with James Cook on the field, and he is their 2nd best player on offense (not counting the line). He also plays fewer than 50% of the snaps, and is a 2-down back who doesn't pass block and has shaky hands, which is probably the easiest position to replace in all of football. Let's be clear, you cannot justify giving him $15m/yr, but as everyone knows RB have an extremely short shelf life in the NFL, and unless you're a future HOFer like Derrick Henry you will only get one big contract, followed by a few smaller 1-2 year deals if your body holds up (big if). So I'm not going to fault Cook for trying to maximize his earnings, especially when NFL GMs are merciless and will cut you at the earliest opportunity if they can save a buck. If Cook listens to the "you signed a contract honor it rah rah rah" crowd and then gets a season-ending injury while having nothing guaranteed past this year, his future earnings have just gone poof and any future contract would be for peanuts compared to what he could theoretically get now. Basically, it's all a big snafu and the only way out is to compromise on a $10-12m per/3 yrs with $20-25m guaranteed. If Cook truly is 100% unwillling to budge from $15m then it's on him, but if he's willing to negotiate and Beane balks it's a bad look for him when he otherwise gives out mid money contracts to JAGs like candy.

Personally I think there are a few factors, but the two most significant are: 1. I think they genuinely do not think he is a very good pass protecting back (and it's true, he isn't). Ty Johnson has a specific role on the team as a result which results in a 3rd back stealing a lot of snaps and some carries; and 2. They just believe in rotating backs through. It is who they have been since they have been here. Again I say this a lot but when you wanna know what Brandon Beane believe in go look at the Carolina Panthers. They had DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart sharing the load in the backfield together for years. It is a bit like their belief with regards to rotating defensive lineman. It's philosophical for them.

Every time this happens, people bring up LeVeon Bell’s situation from 7 years ago. Nobody ever brings up the hundreds of times it’s happened since then where the player has been vindicated. Two years ago, Lamar was an idiot…right up until he signed his massive deal.

All those guys I listed are top 5 at their positions. Spencer brown is a top 5 right tackle now, benford is a top 5 corner, Taron is a top 5 slot corner, Tre was a top 3 corner when he signed, Milano was a top 3 OLB when he signed, Dawkins is probably a top 3 left tackle Out of curiosity where do you have cook ranked- You think he's a top 3-5 RB in the league now?

"Quiet quitting" has been an official thing for years now, and has been going on in corporate America for decades. Every office has people who glide by, under the radar, doing nothing. Usually motivated by getting screwed over by corporate culture enough times, passed over for promotions, raises, etc. Additionally, people use all the leverage they can to negotiate raises, including finding new jobs and threatening to leave if not matched or more. These guys dont get to do that, so this is all they can do.

Oh no. They should do it EXACTLY the way Texas is doing it.

Charles Clay with the "pre-Kincaid."

Are you a Bills fan or a disgruntled, frustrated, hard working family guy.who won’t accept the reality that the market dictates what great professional athletes who produce, deserve.These guys are talented entertainers. When you honker down when it’s 15 degrees out in January and your whole family is going crazy watching the Bills bring total euphoria to Bills nation are you glad we paid Josh 60 million a season? Why do you care what Cook wants or what he gets in the negotiation. Roll with Ty Johnson and Davis all you want but how many RBs since Thurman were any good and how many 16 TD or 1000yd rushing years did they have?Do you resent Taylor Swift or Springsteen making hundred of millions for an album or a concert tour? Get real.

Cook is on the same level or better than all of them besides Josh he just doesn't play a premium position.

There’s no other business where the billionaire owners have been granted an anti-trust exemption and are able to prevent their employees from getting jobs at competitors. Why shouldn’t the players use every bit of leverage they have, and why is Joe Sixpack siding with a bunch of billionaires over the people who get their heads bashed in for our entertainment? Yeah, he’s taking food off of Pegula’s table.

I would take the Shady McCoy we had over Cook right now. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/McCoLe01.htm

Man I really hope you're right but Allen takes a LOT of hits. He takes them like Superman, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't scream "17 year career" to me

I completely get the argument that as a RB, Cook has to maximize his money. But man, this is one aspect of sports that I cannot stand. It just always screams "diva," no matter how it's handled. And I don't think he's handling this well.

Relative to their positions- Milano, Benford, Tre White (2020 contract), Taron Johnson, Spencer Brown, Josh and Dawkins were all better than cook when they signed their extensions here . Wouldn't you agree with that?