So how does this Cook's "hold-in" end gracefully (if there is no extension)?

[boyst]

23 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

Who's going to trade for a running back who wants what appears to be an unreasonable extension?  If I had to guess most to least likely it would be extended, shows up week 1, or goes full nuclear and won't report until week 12 to get his accused season in.

exactly  bills have all the leverage

[Paup 1995MVP]

19 hours ago, Mister Defense said:

 

We drafted James Cook in the 2nd round, just three years ago...

 

And he has surpassed expectations, becoming one of the best running backs in the league, with two excellent years.  And underutilized last year, needed more touches.

 

And it's very clear he is an ascending player, seemed to get better with every game last year.  So the best is yet to come. He should have a monster year this year in Buffalo.

 

And the Bills spent three years helping him develop into a top of the line NFL starting running back. I wonder how many man hours that adds up to.

 

So, you think we can maybe get a 3rd  round pick for James Cook? Do you think that is a good trade for the Bills?  I do not.

 

 

 

 

You REALLY love Cook.  He is a solid RB.  But Not losing sleep if he doesn’t play another down for us.  We have a talented team.  If we have to throw 40+ times per game and Josh is running 15 times/ game so be it.  We will survive and excel.  Too much talent on this team at every position for us not to.  Davis and Johnson are both good runners.  
 

Beane isn’t paying Cook more than the Williams deal.  Not going to happen.  Maybe bring back Mike Gillislee.  lol Remember him?

 

My point is, we have a real good run blocking O line.  Much more important than overpaying James Cook.  We will find guys to carry the rock.  Cooks’ brother was a dumb ass.  And James isn’t much smarter.  That’s what you get out of Georgia players.  

[Big Turk]

50 minutes ago, Homey D. Clown said:

Forgot about Shady.  Yeah, he was really solid for a couple of years.

 

Teams do honor them, they follow it as it's written.  Not sure which example you'd have where that isn't the case

 

 

Oh, you mean the "we can cut you at any time after your guaranteed money is paid and owe you nothing"?  

 

Seems like a pretty tilted system in favor of the teams and owners don't ya think?

[PetermansRedemption]

1 minute ago, Big Turk said:

 

Oh, you mean the "we can cut you at any time after your guaranteed money is paid and owe you nothing"?  

 

Seems like a pretty tilted system in favor of the teams and owners don't ya think?

Isn’t that on the player/agent for not negotiating in more guaranteed money and not so much on the team for following the exact contract that was agreed upon? 

Edited August 7 by PetermansRedemption

[Big Turk]

Just now, PetermansRedemption said:

Isn’t that on the player/agent for not negotiating in more guaranteed money and not so much on the team for following the exact contract that was agreed upon? 

 

More of like a system that is rigged to favor one side versus the other.

[Homey D. Clown]

48 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

Oh, you mean the "we can cut you at any time after your guaranteed money is paid and owe you nothing"?  

 

Seems like a pretty tilted system in favor of the teams and owners don't ya think?

 

I never said contracts aren't all great, but it doesn't mean the team isn't honoring it to the letter of how it's structured.  (Highlighted) For some players, absolutely, for others, absolutely not.  Enter case study: DeShawn Watson.   Let's face it... the NFL is a rather ***** business model.

[Alphadawg7]

I think a deal is going to get done personally, especially after the deal with the Rams.  But, either way, Cook I am certain still plans to play this year regardless, holding in is a MUST do for him at this stage because any injury in camp 100% kills his chance at a deal.  But he isn't going to miss the opportunity to earn game checks, and more importantly, prove his worth to either this team or the next if we don't get a deal done.  

 

I am not currently the least bit worried about him "not" playing come week 1.  Especially against Baltimore.  I could be wrong, but I don't remotely get the impression sitting out games in the season is a real threat right now.  I never expected him to even come to camp, too much injury risk while negotiating, but he wanted to put his best foot forward and show he wants to be here, and I do think that carried weight with Beane and the team and also the Kyrien deal helps reign in his ask too now.  So I think the odds of a deal getting done are as high as they have been since the contract talks began.  

[Merle]

Didn't Beane do some sort of "face saving" gesture for Jordan Poyer a few years ago when he was threatening to hold out under similar circumstances?   I seem to remember them re-doing his contract by adding some more "attainable" incentives that could earn him an additional $500K to $1million or so that season?   Perhaps something like that would be enough to get Cook back into the fold for this year, and then kick the can down the road for next season ...

[DrDawkinstein]

6 minutes ago, Merle said:

Didn't Beane do some sort of "face saving" gesture for Jordan Poyer a few years ago when he was threatening to hold out under similar circumstances?   I seem to remember them re-doing his contract by adding some more "attainable" incentives that could earn him an additional $500K to $1million or so that season?   Perhaps something like that would be enough to get Cook back into the fold for this year, and then kick the can down the road for next season ...

 

That was different since Poyer was motivated to take whatever Beane offered just to get his wife to shut up. 

[The Jokeman]

Beane tells his agent that Cook's market value is $12m and prefer he pay him a little less to keep the group together. The agent accepts it and James gets paid for another three years and everyone is happy. Yet more likely his agent scoffs and Beane says well best thing now is for James play the season out and if he proves worthy the market will give it to him as an UFA. Cook goes out has a good season but once he hits free agency sees that nobody going to pay him $15 million but instead of limping back to the Bills he goes to Dallas for $13 million. The Bills use their top pick in the draft the 2026 draft on Nicholas Singleton to replace Cook. 

Edited August 7 by The Jokeman

[Big Turk]

32 minutes ago, Homey D. Clown said:

 

I never said contracts aren't all great, but it doesn't mean the team isn't honoring it to the letter of how it's structured.  (Highlighted) For some players, absolutely, for others, absolutely not.  Enter case study: DeShawn Watson.   Let's face it... the NFL is a rather ***** business model.

 

Nobody forced them to give Watson that contract, they did it if their own volition because they wanted him there.

 

As a team/owner you can't both do dumbass stuff and then try and blame someone else for doing it when it goes wrong.

 

Owners want something to protect them from themselves and doing dumb things and want the players to foot that bill when they are the ones who should be footing it.

[BillsShredder83]

23 hours ago, Xerx said:

Let's hope that's not the case, truly grim outlook

Pfffft. Sign me up for Ray Day who i think is a better fit for our offense. OL keeps him clean, and an absolute bear to bring down on first contact = chunk yards, high YPC, plus more tired defenses. Gunna need more than one man into tackle, everybody hustling/chasing to chip in on Defense. 

 

Our OL is the real darling. Why pay $15m for an extra 10% upside. No thanks

[Ned Flanders]

I'm now thinking that if he's not signed by the weekend, it's going to linger until right before the opener.  Not good for either side.

 

The Bills could do some good PR by announcing the signing right before the Giants game Saturday.  Something to give the fans since Josh will be in street clothes.

[PoundingDog]

1 hour ago, Big Turk said:

 

More of like a system that is rigged to favor one side versus the other.

The ideal world is

1) a hard cap, none of the voidable years, signing bonus crap - every team has X amount dollars (the Cap) for the upcoming season.

2) every player is on a one year deal, for the upcoming season. 2 way street for every one at the end of the year.

 

No dead cap for anyone. No hold out for anyone.

 

As an example, Dallas can offer Mahomes the maximum, which means league minimum for other 52 players and the rest of the cap money to Mahomes.

 

So you have no loyalty of fans attaching to any player because they are likely to go from team to team every year. No continuity of teams to speak of. Players have no security of a long term contract, which likely to prompt them to seek the best offer any given year. 

 

I don't think the players will go for that.

[Delete_Delete_Delete]

59 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

I think a deal is going to get done personally, especially after the deal with the Rams.  But, either way, Cook I am certain still plans to play this year regardless, holding in is a MUST do for him at this stage because any injury in camp 100% kills his chance at a deal.  But he isn't going to miss the opportunity to earn game checks, and more importantly, prove his worth to either this team or the next if we don't get a deal done.  

 

I am not currently the least bit worried about him "not" playing come week 1.  Especially against Baltimore.  I could be wrong, but I don't remotely get the impression sitting out games in the season is a real threat right now.  I never expected him to even come to camp, too much injury risk while negotiating, but he wanted to put his best foot forward and show he wants to be here, and I do think that carried weight with Beane and the team and also the Kyrien deal helps reign in his ask too now.  So I think the odds of a deal getting done are as high as they have been since the contract talks began.  

As PFT pointed out recently about players in contract years, I’d be more worried about him sitting out the playoffs as without a new deal there is very little incentive for him to risk injury in the post season. Somebody is going to do it eventually in a contract year/under the tag, just like college players sitting out bowl games became common place.

[DrDawkinstein]

39 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

Beane tells his agent that Cook's market value is $12m and prefer he pay him a little less to keep the group together. The agent accepts it and James gets paid for another three years and everyone is happy. Yet more likely his agent scoffs and Beane says well best thing now is for James play the season out and if he proves worthy the market will give it to him as an UFA. Cook goes out has a good season but once he hits free agency sees that nobody going to pay him $15 million but instead of limping back to the Bills he goes to Dallas for $13 million. The Bills use their top pick in the draft the 2026 draft on Nicholas Singleton to replace Cook. 

 

Bills Mafia erotic BDSM fanfic. Seems like a lot of folks would love to get off on something like this for whatever reason.

 

Weird that so many people saying "you dont pay RBs! they arent worth it!" also want us to use a 1st round pick on replacing our star RB. Instead of being able to snag another WR, OT, or Defensive player...

[Mister Defense]

1 hour ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

You REALLY love Cook.  He is a solid RB.  But Not losing sleep if he doesn’t play another down for us.  We have a talented team.  If we have to throw 40+ times per game and Josh is running 15 times/ game so be it.  We will survive and excel.  Too much talent on this team at every position for us not to.  Davis and Johnson are both good runners.  
 

Beane isn’t paying Cook more than the Williams deal.  Not going to happen.  Maybe bring back Mike Gillislee.  lol Remember him?

 

My point is, we have a real good run blocking O line.  Much more important than overpaying James Cook.  We will find guys to carry the rock.  Cooks’ brother was a dumb ass.  And James isn’t much smarter.  That’s what you get out of Georgia players.  

 

Sound like you really dislike the 'dumb' guy..

 

A solid running back!  Your post is a great example of an early post of mine in this thread, speaking of complimentary football.

 

No one who watched football, and who has watched Cook the last few years,would just throw him in that basic category, solid, serviceable--can you say 'dime a dozen'?  Same thing.   It is why so many of the 'Let Cook walk' posters make no sense--they just say these kinds of things without much thought, without facts, thinking repeating the same nonsense over and over makes it legitimate somehow.  It does not.

 

And it doesn't work the way you say it could--or very rarely in the NFL- Josh throwing the heck out of the ball and running too? A one man show?  Hate this cliche, but Superman returns?  What you are saying works for you is exactly what the Bills worked so hard to move away from, knowing that a dynamic, physical and game changing running game was the missing element on this team. They have it now, with James Cook leading the way.

 

The Bills have been focused like a laser on giving Josh the line, the skill players, the scheme, and game plan to make RUNNING a huge part of the Bills, post dorsey.

 

Each time the Bills started running the ball more, with Daboll, at 7-6 after the Bucs game, and then after Brady took over for dorsey mid season, and then last year, in his first full year as the OC, they became a much better team--and Josh was at his best.

 

In each of these examples the fundamental change was much more reliance on the running game. The Bills became one of the most run heavy teams in the league--each time.  And the Bills, with that balance, became almost unbeatable each time.  Not a coincidence, a plan, with an obvious commitment to the run.   To bring out the best in Josh Allen, making him almost unstoppable with a high level running game at his disposal. 

 

So hopefully Beane and the Bills also don't  see Georgia guys as simply stupid Georgia 'dumb asses' and do the right thing, the intelligent thing, and pay Cook what he is worth. 

 

 

[GerstAusGosheim]

On 8/6/2025 at 12:56 PM, Spiderweb said:

Cook's biggest mistake to date was his initial very public social media demands.... I can't believe that went over very well..

 

Every time Sean used the phrase "complimentary football," Cook raised his demands 100k.

 

Imagine being a RB in 2025 and hearing those words repeatedly. Dream come true. 

[Xerx]

23 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Pfffft. Sign me up for Ray Day who i think is a better fit for our offense. OL keeps him clean, and an absolute bear to bring down on first contact = chunk yards, high YPC, plus more tired defenses. Gunna need more than one man into tackle, everybody hustling/chasing to chip in on Defense. 

 

Our OL is the real darling. Why pay $15m for an extra 10% upside. No thanks

 

I mean, I don't want to pay him $15m either

 

but that's vastly different than the outlined scenario

[Augie]

2 hours ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

You REALLY love Cook.  He is a solid RB.  But Not losing sleep if he doesn’t play another down for us.  We have a talented team.  If we have to throw 40+ times per game and Josh is running 15 times/ game so be it.  We will survive and excel.  Too much talent on this team at every position for us not to.  Davis and Johnson are both good runners.  
 

Beane isn’t paying Cook more than the Williams deal.  Not going to happen.  Maybe bring back Mike Gillislee.  lol Remember him?

 

My point is, we have a real good run blocking O line.  Much more important than overpaying James Cook.  We will find guys to carry the rock.  Cooks’ brother was a dumb ass.  And James isn’t much smarter.  That’s what you get out of Georgia players.  

 

FYI - If you had typed the bold first, you would have saved me the time of reading the rest. That is an incredibly “uninformed” statement, and I’m being as polite as possible.