Josh Allen, Khalil Shakir, Gregory Rousseau, Christian Benford, and Terrel Bernard are just some of the members of the Buffalo Bills to receive lucrative multi-year contract extensions this offseason.
One glaring omission from this list is star RB James Cook, who has been seeking a long-term contract extension since the start of this offseason.
Despite the lack of progress, Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane made a confident statement regarding his playmaking running back taking the field for the team in 2025.
Bills GM Has Confidence About RB James Cook Taking the Field in 2025
The contract negotiations between star RB James Cook and the Buffalo Bills has been a consistent headline throughout the offseason.
Despite the two sides not coming to a contract extension agreement yet, Bills GM Brandon Beane expressed confidence in Cook taking the field for the when upcoming 2025 NFL season begins on a recent episode of Mad Dog Sports Radio.
Beane said, “I know we’ve had people in the building that he’s been talking with, and I have no doubt when it’s time to play football, he’ll be ready to roll,” when discussing Cook’s status for taking the field this season with Adam Schein on Wednesday.
James Cook Wasn’t Present for Voluntary Organized Team Activities
It is encouraging for Bills’ fans to hear Beane speaking with such confidence regarding the Cook contract situation, but when it was time for his star RB to take the field for voluntary Organized Team Activities… he wasn’t there for the start of OTAs.
Now, one of the key words from the previous paragraph would be ‘voluntary.’ Meaning it is not required for Cook to be present.
Does this mean anything definitive for Cook’s status to take the field for the start of the 2025 NFL season? No, there is still plenty of time for the two sides to work out a contract extension or for Cook to simply accept playing the upcoming on year under his current compensation structure.
Yet, Cook has made it clear what he is currently seeking as far as compensation entering the 2025 NFL season. The star RB commented on his Instagram Live post by saying “15 mill year” regarding desired compensation in a contract extension.
The Bills have managed to get a handful of contract extensions done with key components of the 2024 roster in an attempt to keep the core group of players surrounding Josh Allen intact moving forward.
Admittedly, Cook being the one player who hasn’t received an extension yet feels noteworthy considering how important his production was to the Bills’ offense last year.
Cook is coming off of a career year where he produced 18 total touchdowns on just 239 touches and was a consistent playmaking force alongside league MVP Josh Allen.
Cook’s per carry efficiency jumped from 4.73 in 2023 to 4.87 last season, but did so while seeing 30 fewer carries with both Ray Davis and Ty Johnson spelling the Georgia product regularly in 2024.
If Cook were to miss any time at the start of the 2025 season due to this contract dispute, it would be very interesting to see how much of an impact Cook’s absence would have on this offense.
Clearly, Beane doesn’t feel that scenario will come to fruition, but it is certainly a situation that needs to be monitored entering training camp.
