Bills’ Sean McDermott issues 4-word practice update on James Cook

The Buffalo Bills officially reported to training camp at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, NY, on July 22, and somewhat surprisingly, running back James Cook is there. The Pro Bowl runner wants a new contract, and a camp holdout seemed likely. However, head coach Sean McDermott says the back is not only present, “He's ready to go.”

“Sean McDermott said that he does anticipate RB James Cook practicing today. ‘He’s ready to go,'” ESPN's Alaina Getzenberg reported on Wednesday.

Cook, a 2022 second-round pick out of Georgia, is in the fourth and final year of his rookie deal and will make $5.7 million in 2025. That makes him the 17th-highest-paid RB in the league this season, which is well under where he ranks in terms of production.

Last year, during the Bills' run to the AFC Championship Game, Cook rushed for 1,009 yards and scored 16 touchdowns, the most in the league. He also made his second Pro Bowl.

The careers of NFL running backs are short these days, and the Bills star knows this all too well. His brother, Dalvin, was a four-time Pro Bowler with the Minnesota Vikings from 2019-22. He signed a big, five-year, $63 million contract in 2020, but the Vikes released him after the 2022 season, so he never saw that full payday.

Now, while Dalvin is still a few days shy of his 30th birthday (Aug. 10), he has had just eight carries in the last two seasons and is currently on the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad.

All this is to say that the Cook family knows that running backs have to get their money while they can, because the life of an NFL running back is a tough one. However, it looks like James Cook is choosing not to play hardball for now on a Bills team with major Super Bowl aspirations.

This is huge for Buffalo as Josh Allen and company are much better with James Cook than without him. Still, Bills training camp is just getting underway, so it is worth watching to see if the RB stays “ready to go” as the preseason rolls on and the risk of injury without a long-term extension becomes more significant.