Difficult Times Lie Ahead For Bills And James Cook

Decisions are coming for the Buffalo Bills. And they might have to say goodbye to one of their top offensive players because of that.

As the 2025 offseason kicks off, the Bills have one player they need to figure out a long-term future for. Even if that means extending him to be among the highest paid at his position.

At first glance, running back James Cook hasn't done enough to warrant a spot along with All-Pros like Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey, Cook has run for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons, and despite leading the league in rushing touchdowns is heading into a contract year with his future in Buffalo unsettled.

It doesn't help that the Georgia product has made it clear that he wants a contract closer to $15 million on the open market.

"I just feel like we're deserving of it. Like, why not? We work all of our life to get paid. Feed me the big bucks," Cook said. "I want to go chase the highest of the highest and I'm going to keep doing it."

Difficult times lie ahead for both Buffalo and Cook.

On one hand, the Bills don't have a ton of cap space going into this season and need to actually release more players in order to stay under the salary cap.

Cook, on the other hand, isn't going to get many suitors on the open market that are willing to pay him over $15 million.

Despite averaging close to five yards per carry, Buffalo has a plethora of quality running backs behind him that carried the load at times during the 2024 season.

There are few runners valued as high as close to $15 million per year. It might simply too early to determine if the Bills and Cook are part of that combination.