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James Cook is on an island.
The Buffalo Bills running back is the last of the team’s five starters set to play on an expiring rookie contract in 2025. And it seems like it might take a while before an agreement is reached between the two sides.
Cornerback Christian Benford agreed to a four-year, $76 million extension Saturday, joining fellow 2022 draft class members Terrel Bernard and Khalil Shakir, along with 2021 first-round pick Greg Rousseau to receive extensions during the offseason. That leaves Cook as the odd man out for now.
The two-time Pro Bowler has said on social media that he is seeking $15 million per year on his next contract, something only two other running backs — Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley — are making in the NFL. After the Benford deal was finalized, Bills general manager Brandon Beane didn’t rule out extending Cook, but for now the team was focused on the draft later this month.
It appears both sides are seeking leverage in negotiations. And the Bills prioritized positions like pass rusher and cornerback that are more difficult to come by and they settled on negotiations both sides were closer on terms.
“Love Jimbo, proud of his success,” Beane said at the NFL annual meetings Sunday. “... his reps and him put it out there that we did talk. So … I'm not sharing anything new. It didn't lead to anything, as far as closing in on a deal. And so we moved on to the guys that we were more on the same page with. And at this point, we're on to the draft once we got Benford done. We're going to, I don't see us doing any deals anytime soon.”
Beane said that doesn’t mean the Bills won’t sign any free agents before the draft, but extensions were more complex situations when it comes to managing the salary cap. According to OverTheCap.com, the Bills currently have $4.454 million in cap space for 2025.
The Bills made a handful of moves to bolster the offense early in free agency, extending Shakir and quarterback Josh Allen, while re-signing running back Ty Johnson and adding former Chargers receiver Joshua Palmer. But most of the offseason has been geared toward retooling the defense.
Buffalo is committed to receivers Palmer, Shakir, Keon Coleman and Curtis Samuel, along with tight ends Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox for 2025. The Bills remain steadfast in the development of Coleman and Kincaid — the team’s last two top picks — while it would cost the Bills $21 million to cut Knox and $12 million to trade Samuel and neither are likely to have a big trade market.
Beane didn’t balk at the idea of bringing back Amari Cooper, who remains a free agent, but he doesn’t seem in a rush to make any significant moves on offense. The Bills had one of the most efficient offenses in the last 25 years, joining the 2007 Patriots, 2018 Chiefs and 2020 Packers as the only teams to average three points per drive since 2000.
Both Beane and head coach Sean McDermott expressed confidence in the current receiving group and don’t believe the Bills need a true No. 1 receiver.
“Needs? I wouldn't say needs, but we'll look for competition,” Beane said. “I would say our offense did pretty good last year. … We like the addition of Josh Palmer to our group. We feel like he's a guy who really fits what we like to do, kind of another 'positionless' wide receiver. … There is still time to add more players. But am I sitting here going, man, we've got a hole there? No.”
It’s unlikely the Bills enter Week 1 with only four receivers on the 53-man roster. It wouldn’t be a shock if they chose one at some point in the draft.
The Bills have taken a receiver — nine total — in all but one draft since McDermott became head coach in 2017, including each of the last five. But seven of the Bills' drafted receivers have been taken on day three.
What the Bills currently do not have is a receiver who can play all of the special teams, unless a practice squad player like Tyrell Shavers or Jalen Virgil can make the final roster coming out of training camp. That’s a role vacated by Mack Hollins when he signed with the Patriots.
The Bills have been known to keep special teams aces and have one in cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram, but they usually have one on both sides of the ball. Buffalo has kept players like running back Taiwan Jones (2017-18, 2020-22) and receivers Andre Holmes (2017-18) and Jake Kumerow (2020-22), whose primary function on the team was slated to be special teams.
Even if they don’t play on kick coverage teams, the final receiver spot usually goes to someone with a special teams function, like returners in the mold of Andre Roberts and Isaiah McKenzie.
Laviska Shenault Jr. was signed and while the former second-round pick hasn’t produced what was expected as a receiver in his five seasons, he has served as an adequate kick returner. But Shenault hasn’t returned punts and has limited coverage experience (135 snaps in the last two seasons).
Because of injuries, Hollins ended up leading all Bills receivers with 721 offensive snaps, but he also played 100 special teams snaps. And the NFL is expected to tinker with the kickoff rule again at the annual meetings and it could mean another jump in kick returns after an 11% increase last season.
The Bills retained Brandon Codrington as a return specialist last season, but his only other function was as a cornerback in garbage time. That led to being a healthy scratch in the postseason so the Bills could activate another player to give depth on special teams or on defense.
“I think (special teams is) an area that we need to address — get back to addressing more this year,” McDermott said Monday. “The (Tyler) Matakevichs of the world, Taiwan Jones, Siran Neal, we've had some of those big-time pieces and I think it's important with potentially where this kickoff rule is going to go, that we continue to have those pieces, because special teams is not going anywhere. It's in the game and it's here to stay.”
Continue reading...
The Buffalo Bills running back is the last of the team’s five starters set to play on an expiring rookie contract in 2025. And it seems like it might take a while before an agreement is reached between the two sides.
Cornerback Christian Benford agreed to a four-year, $76 million extension Saturday, joining fellow 2022 draft class members Terrel Bernard and Khalil Shakir, along with 2021 first-round pick Greg Rousseau to receive extensions during the offseason. That leaves Cook as the odd man out for now.
The two-time Pro Bowler has said on social media that he is seeking $15 million per year on his next contract, something only two other running backs — Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley — are making in the NFL. After the Benford deal was finalized, Bills general manager Brandon Beane didn’t rule out extending Cook, but for now the team was focused on the draft later this month.
It appears both sides are seeking leverage in negotiations. And the Bills prioritized positions like pass rusher and cornerback that are more difficult to come by and they settled on negotiations both sides were closer on terms.
“Love Jimbo, proud of his success,” Beane said at the NFL annual meetings Sunday. “... his reps and him put it out there that we did talk. So … I'm not sharing anything new. It didn't lead to anything, as far as closing in on a deal. And so we moved on to the guys that we were more on the same page with. And at this point, we're on to the draft once we got Benford done. We're going to, I don't see us doing any deals anytime soon.”
Beane said that doesn’t mean the Bills won’t sign any free agents before the draft, but extensions were more complex situations when it comes to managing the salary cap. According to OverTheCap.com, the Bills currently have $4.454 million in cap space for 2025.
The Bills made a handful of moves to bolster the offense early in free agency, extending Shakir and quarterback Josh Allen, while re-signing running back Ty Johnson and adding former Chargers receiver Joshua Palmer. But most of the offseason has been geared toward retooling the defense.
Buffalo is committed to receivers Palmer, Shakir, Keon Coleman and Curtis Samuel, along with tight ends Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox for 2025. The Bills remain steadfast in the development of Coleman and Kincaid — the team’s last two top picks — while it would cost the Bills $21 million to cut Knox and $12 million to trade Samuel and neither are likely to have a big trade market.
Beane didn’t balk at the idea of bringing back Amari Cooper, who remains a free agent, but he doesn’t seem in a rush to make any significant moves on offense. The Bills had one of the most efficient offenses in the last 25 years, joining the 2007 Patriots, 2018 Chiefs and 2020 Packers as the only teams to average three points per drive since 2000.
Both Beane and head coach Sean McDermott expressed confidence in the current receiving group and don’t believe the Bills need a true No. 1 receiver.
“Needs? I wouldn't say needs, but we'll look for competition,” Beane said. “I would say our offense did pretty good last year. … We like the addition of Josh Palmer to our group. We feel like he's a guy who really fits what we like to do, kind of another 'positionless' wide receiver. … There is still time to add more players. But am I sitting here going, man, we've got a hole there? No.”
It’s unlikely the Bills enter Week 1 with only four receivers on the 53-man roster. It wouldn’t be a shock if they chose one at some point in the draft.
The Bills have taken a receiver — nine total — in all but one draft since McDermott became head coach in 2017, including each of the last five. But seven of the Bills' drafted receivers have been taken on day three.
What the Bills currently do not have is a receiver who can play all of the special teams, unless a practice squad player like Tyrell Shavers or Jalen Virgil can make the final roster coming out of training camp. That’s a role vacated by Mack Hollins when he signed with the Patriots.
The Bills have been known to keep special teams aces and have one in cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram, but they usually have one on both sides of the ball. Buffalo has kept players like running back Taiwan Jones (2017-18, 2020-22) and receivers Andre Holmes (2017-18) and Jake Kumerow (2020-22), whose primary function on the team was slated to be special teams.
Even if they don’t play on kick coverage teams, the final receiver spot usually goes to someone with a special teams function, like returners in the mold of Andre Roberts and Isaiah McKenzie.
Laviska Shenault Jr. was signed and while the former second-round pick hasn’t produced what was expected as a receiver in his five seasons, he has served as an adequate kick returner. But Shenault hasn’t returned punts and has limited coverage experience (135 snaps in the last two seasons).
Because of injuries, Hollins ended up leading all Bills receivers with 721 offensive snaps, but he also played 100 special teams snaps. And the NFL is expected to tinker with the kickoff rule again at the annual meetings and it could mean another jump in kick returns after an 11% increase last season.
The Bills retained Brandon Codrington as a return specialist last season, but his only other function was as a cornerback in garbage time. That led to being a healthy scratch in the postseason so the Bills could activate another player to give depth on special teams or on defense.
“I think (special teams is) an area that we need to address — get back to addressing more this year,” McDermott said Monday. “The (Tyler) Matakevichs of the world, Taiwan Jones, Siran Neal, we've had some of those big-time pieces and I think it's important with potentially where this kickoff rule is going to go, that we continue to have those pieces, because special teams is not going anywhere. It's in the game and it's here to stay.”
Continue reading...
