When Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane stepped to the podium to answer questions as minicamp continued for the AFC East champs, he would have known that some questions about James Cook were going to come up.
And they did.
With Cook wanting a new contract, and the Bills, at least right now, not too keen to part with roughly $15 million APY for a new deal, the two parties seem to be at loggerheads with talks stalling.
But talks have taken place, right?
"I'll keep that between us as far as that's going, but relationship's very good and I know Jimbo's going to be ready to roll when we get to Rochester," Beane said.
Not having a deal done at minicamp is one thing, but when training camp rolls around? That is a different situation altogether, my friends.
We have seen players hold out of training camp as they await a new deal, but with Cook present at minicamp and participating, there might be hope that there won't be a holdout next month.
But will Cook even be at training camp?
"I mean everything as far as I can tell, yeah, you'd have to ask him on that," Beane added. "He hasn't said I won't be there if there's no deal or any kind of circumstances. I believe Jimbo will be ready to roll whether there's a deal or not."
Well, that sounds positive, and the Bills have roughly six weeks to finalize a deal for Cook; otherwise, the running back will play on the final year of his rookie contract, which isn't ideal.
James wants a new contract, but so far, it hasn't been pushed along any further.
The $1.6 million in cap space for Buffalo might be the reason why, but the longer this goes, the more uncomfortable it gets, both for the franchise and the player, despite all the good public comments.
