Is Cook worth it?

[Victory Formation]

4 minutes ago, Ya Digg? said:

Wait hold on-you are the same exact dude saying he didn’t handle things the right way. He shows up, which is doing things the right way, and you’re still crapping on him. Come on man, your fight is getting weaker by the second 

I bet you $100 that Cook is not a Bill after this season.

[MJS]

2 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

I would say that calling him "nothing close to a Superstar" is underrating him more than calling him a "Superstar" is overrating him. I think you'd be hard pressed to find an NFL fan, of any team, that doesn't know who James Cook is.

Since NFL fans know who the starting RB is for one of the most prominent teams in the NFL, that makes him a superstar? Plus his brother was a good RB in the league. Cook is a good RB. He isn't a superstar.

 

Ask NFL fans who they think the top superstar running backs in the NFL are, and he will not be mentioned. They'll mention Henry, Barkley, maybe Jacobs, and maybe McCaffrey. Perhaps a couple others.

 

PFF ranks Cook 12th heading into the season. So, they clearly don't see him as a superstar.

 

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-running-back-rankings-top-32-ahead-of-2025-nfl-season

Edited Tuesday at 10:50 PM by MJS

[Ya Digg?]

11 minutes ago, Victory Formation said:

I bet you $100 that Cook is not a Bill after this season.

Who cares right now if he is or isn’t. Guys have done things the “right way” and teams haven’t brought them back. Him leaving after the season doesn’t mean things aged poorly 

[Special K]

10 minutes ago, Victory Formation said:

I bet you $100 that Cook is not a Bill after this season.

 

Yeah, I honestly don't think Cook is going to "LeVeon Bell" it.

 

He will show up, not make too many waves....maybe a few rumbles during training camp, play out the year and sign his big contract next year, but as you said, it won't be with the Bills.

[MJS]

18 minutes ago, Ya Digg? said:

Wait hold on-you are the same exact dude saying he didn’t handle things the right way. He shows up, which is doing things the right way, and you’re still crapping on him. Come on man, your fight is getting weaker by the second 

That's good he showed up. But he still sent tweats and made his contract process a public thing. He didn't show up for OTA's. Some could look at that as not the right way to go about it. Ultimately, he saw the writing on the wall and showed up, though. That was smart of him. He has zero leverage.

[Victory Formation]

6 minutes ago, Ya Digg? said:

Who cares right now if he is or isn’t. Guys have done things the “right way” and teams haven’t brought them back. Him leaving after the season doesn’t mean things aged poorly 

I don’t understand why you’re so upset. You’re taking this waaay too personally. Breathe.

[3rdand12]

21 hours ago, Richard Noggin said:

Cook's relatively low mileage (in college and the pros) is a positive with respect to the RB age cliff, but also a potential negative with respect to his overall evaluation (why hasn't he had a larger snap % thus far in his career). 

 

The safest bet in my opinion is to help Cook go bonkers in this contract year, and allow him to move on with dignity. That seems like what Beane has in mind. Then Davis and Johnson and another rookie (or other low-risk acquisition) steps up. And so on and so forth. 

I approve of this post

[Ya Digg?]

43 minutes ago, Victory Formation said:

I don’t understand why you’re so upset. You’re taking this waaay too personally. Breathe.

I’m not upset at all, just pointing out how absurd your statements have been. Reading your stuff lately, you seem like it’s a personal attack on you that he wasn’t at OTAs or made some tweets. But that’s cool, deflect if you need to

[klos63]

3 hours ago, MJS said:

Couldn't disagree more. Cook isn't worth $15 million a season, so you don't pay him that. Period. He is a running back who doesn't even play 70% of snaps. Move on and find his replacement. The offense won't skip a beat.

 

How many GMs have this mentality of yours? Basically none. They have to consider their market value and weigh it against the opportunity cost. That's how it works.

How many RBs that did have 70% of the snaps get 16 TD'S.   So many dismiss that,  it's a big deal. 

Re-watch some games from last season,  if you do it's impossible to not see his impact and his value to the team.  

Then watch how he performed in the playoffs,  the guy is a stud, that's why Beane used a very valuable 2nd round pick on him.

[3rdand12]

4 hours ago, klos63 said:

They're not going to tear up his contract, they'll extend it(if they reach agreement) and structure so his cap hit is minimal this year and next... and maybe a 3rd year.  I don't get that nobody hear seems to discuss the actual structure of the deal.  People just seem to assume that it would have to be 15mm a year cap hit,  which it won't. If Beane wants to extend him,  they will. 

We don't know what Beane has offered

We do know this if said offer was presented , it was not accepted.

 

 I agree with you. Also feel Beane is a straight shooter.

So to me it seems Cook and his "agent" have been unreasonable. Incentives could have played a huge part to bring that # up.

There must have been a fair + or workable offer on the table.

My opinions

 

[Buffalo Junction]

33 minutes ago, klos63 said:

How many RBs that did have 70% of the snaps get 16 TD'S.   So many dismiss that,  it's a big deal. 

Re-watch some games from last season,  if you do it's impossible to not see his impact and his value to the team.  

Then watch how he performed in the playoffs,  the guy is a stud, that's why Beane used a very valuable 2nd round pick on him.

Guys who hit those high levels of TD production on lower snap numbers rarely duplicate it unless they’re power backs. Aaron Jones is probably the best recent example of that. Cook is a very valuable player in this offense as he’s one of the few weapons that can play above the scheme at times, but I wouldn’t expect that TD production to be his new normal. 
 

[Doc Brown]

2 hours ago, Ya Digg? said:

Wait hold on-you are the same exact dude saying he didn’t handle things the right way. He shows up, which is doing things the right way, and you’re still crapping on him. Come on man, your fight is getting weaker by the second 

Winning points with the fans to put more public pressure on Beane.  Next level stuff. 

 

In all seriousness, wherever you stand on Cook you have to at least give him credit for showing up and participating when a lot of unhappy players contract wise around the league didn't. 

[RyanC883]

3 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

Winning points with the fans to put more public pressure on Beane.  Next level stuff. 

 

In all seriousness, wherever you stand on Cook you have to at least give him credit for showing up and participating when a lot of unhappy players contract wise around the league didn't. 

agree with this.  It’s the smart thing for him as well, so hopefully someone smart advising him.  

[mikemac2001]

16 minutes ago, Buffalo Junction said:

Guys who hit those high levels of TD production on lower snap numbers rarely duplicate it unless they’re power backs. Aaron Jones is probably the best recent example of that. Cook is a very valuable player in this offense as he’s one of the few weapons that can play above the scheme at times, but I wouldn’t expect that TD production to be his new normal. 
 

I agree but James cook is not a TD back for me he is a big play back and I don’t see a lot of them right now

 

let the big backs and Josh get the 1 yard tds 

 

I want 30+ yard plays and he creates plenty of them 

 

id pay him for 2 more years and see what happens 

[Buffalo Junction]

16 minutes ago, mikemac2001 said:

I agree but James cook is not a TD back for me he is a big play back and I don’t see a lot of them right now

 

let the big backs and Josh get the 1 yard tds 

 

I want 30+ yard plays and he creates plenty of them 

 

id pay him for 2 more years and see what happens 

Beane may have had the same POV as you. Cook may be looking for 4 years at $60 million. We have no idea what the disconnect on a contract is. It might be years, total value, guaranteed money, etc. Unless there’s an extension before the season we won’t know for a while. 

[Billsfed1]

The fact that he showed up to camp tells me his agent backed off somewhat.  

 

They’ll probably still put up a fight, but settle around 12…12.5. His actual worth.

 

He could take a gamble and wait but why?  If he takes the 12, he’ll be the guy on the Bills for the next 5 years at least.  

It’s a great situation.  Good owner, good team…why hold out for an extra 3 mil to play for the Jacksonville’s of the world?

 

Take the deal James

Edited yesterday at 01:19 AM by Billsfed1

[Bockeye]

9 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

Interesting idea, but it would depend on how another team would want to use him.  If they see him as a higher volume, 3 down guy then they’ll likely offer a bigger deal.  I want him signed but when you have him only getting maybe 50% of snaps, and Ty Johnson used as a 3rd down back a lot, it’s hard to see him getting a big number.

This is great perspective.  He has a lower snap count than other “#1” backs simply because we have better pass catching RB’s on the roster as well as better pass blocking RB’s on the roster, and maybe even better goal line backs. 

[Billsfed1]

4 minutes ago, Billsfed1 said:

The fact that he showed up to camp tells me his agent backed off somewhat.  

 

They’ll probably still put up a fight, but settle around 12…12.5. His actual worth.

 

He could take a gamble and wait but why?  If he takes the 12, he’ll be the guy on the Bills for the next 5 years at least.  

It’s a great situation.  Good owner, good team…why hold out for an extra 3 mil to play for the Jacksonville’s of the world?

 

Take the deal James

[klos63]

56 minutes ago, Buffalo Junction said:

Guys who hit those high levels of TD production on lower snap numbers rarely duplicate it unless they’re power backs. Aaron Jones is probably the best recent example of that. Cook is a very valuable player in this offense as he’s one of the few weapons that can play above the scheme at times, but I wouldn’t expect that TD production to be his new normal. 
 

True, but very few even get to 16 in the first place.  We have a tremendous offense, he's a key part,  we agree on that.  

I think he has the talent and the personnel around him to put up superstar numbers.

[BillsFanForever19]

2 hours ago, Victory Formation said:

I bet you $100 that Cook is not a Bill after this season.

 

Your take was that he's "not doing the right things", "isn't a team player", and compared him to Diggs.

 

Now you're moving the goal posts to he won't be a Bill next season. I think even the ones (like myself) who are saying you're taking things too far see that as likely.

 

3 hours ago, Victory Formation said:

Let’s see how this ages. 

 

2 hours ago, Victory Formation said:

I don’t understand why you’re so upset. You’re taking this waaay too personally. Breathe.

 

My dude - you're the one comparing him to Diggs, still holding a grudge and saying "let's see how this ages" even after he showed up to Mini Camp and didn't even "Hold In".

 

If anyone's (strangely) taking things too personally, it's you.