James Cook is at training camp, but he’s still not happy with his contract. In an effort to move things along, he showed up in street clothes today.
Cook is apparently healthy. Sean McDermott was running down the list of Buffalo’s injuries and didn’t mention him. Poked at by reporters, Cook stated, “business.”
It’s reasonable for him to be miffed with his contract. He’s outperformed the four-year deal he received as a second-round pick back in 2022. That contract wasn’t negotiated; it was assigned to him as part of the current (ill-advised) labor agreement. He’s made a total of $4.6 million in his first three seasons, which is only a small fraction of what he’s been worth.
Cook has been one of the top dozen running backs over the past two years, averaging 65 rushing and 21 receiving yards in 33 games, with 24 touchdowns.
Since the Bills drafted him, Cook has averaged 4.9 yards per carry. Among backs with at least 400 carries, only one (Jahmyr Gibbs) has a higher average over the last three seasons.
| YARDS PER CARRY (last 3 years) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| Jahmyr Gibbs, Det. | 432 | 2,357 | 5.46 | 31 |
| James Cook, Buff. | 533 | 2,638 | 4.95 | 27 |
| Christian McCaffrey, S.F. | 566 | 2,800 | 4.95 | 34 |
| Derrick Henry, Ten.-Bal. | 954 | 4,626 | 4.85 | 43 |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG-Phi. | 887 | 4,279 | 4.82 | 35 |
| Aaron Jones, G.B.-Min. | 610 | 2,915 | 4.78 | 17 |
| Bijan Robinson, Atl. | 518 | 2,432 | 4.69 | 23 |
| Nick Chubb, Cle. | 432 | 2,027 | 4.69 | 17 |
| James Conner, Ari. | 627 | 2,916 | 4.65 | 26 |
| Raheem Mostert, Mia. | 475 | 2,181 | 4.59 | 28 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 664 | 3,033 | 4.57 | 24 |
| Breece Hall, NYJ | 512 | 2,333 | 4.56 | 22 |
| Isiah Pacheco, K.C. | 458 | 2,075 | 4.53 | 15 |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | 579 | 2,582 | 4.46 | 31 |
| Tyler Allgeier, Atl. | 533 | 2,362 | 4.43 | 12 |
| Chuba Hubbard, Car. | 583 | 2,563 | 4.40 | 18 |
| D'Andre Swift, 3 tms | 581 | 2,550 | 4.39 | 20 |
| Tony Pollard, Dall.-Ten. | 705 | 3,091 | 4.38 | 23 |
| Josh Jacobs, L.V.-G.B. | 874 | 3,787 | 4.33 | 34 |
| Miles Sanders, Phi.-Car. | 443 | 1,906 | 4.30 | 15 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 573 | 2,460 | 4.29 | 18 |
| David Montgomery, Chi.-Det. | 605 | 2,591 | 4.28 | 31 |
| Devin Singletary, 3 tms | 506 | 2,154 | 4.26 | 14 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 637 | 2,691 | 4.22 | 19 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 600 | 2,528 | 4.21 | 26 |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC-Was. | 460 | 1,910 | 4.15 | 28 |
| Brian Robinson, Was. | 570 | 2,329 | 4.09 | 20 |
| Dameon Pierce, Hou. | 405 | 1,648 | 4.07 | 10 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 631 | 2,541 | 4.03 | 18 |
| Joe Mixon, Cin.-Hou. | 712 | 2,864 | 4.02 | 33 |
| Najee Harris, Pitt. | 790 | 3,112 | 3.94 | 24 |
| Rachaad White, T.B. | 545 | 2,084 | 3.82 | 21 |
| Javonte Williams, Den. | 403 | 1,491 | 3.70 | 9 |
| Jamaal Williams, Det.-N.O. | 416 | 1,536 | 3.69 | 19 |
| Ezekiel Elliott, Dall.-N.E. | 489 | 1,744 | 3.57 | 20 |
| Kareem Hunt, Cle.-K.C. | 458 | 1,607 | 3.51 | 20 |
With three years of service under his belt, Cook is now eligible for an extension, and he would like to sign it before putting his body at risk for another 17 games. That’s reasonable. There are three running backs making over $15 million – Barkley, McCaffrey, Henry – and Cook would like to move up into that group.
I don’t think he’ll be able to pull off that kind of deal. The Bills still have the leverage of having him under contract for an additional season, along with some depth behind him. Ray Davis played awfully well when Cook missed a game last year, and they also have veteran Ty Johnson. That should allow them to squeeze Cook to settle for something far more palatable for their tastes.
(For fantasy purposes, I don’t consider this to be a big deal – this should be settled long before Week 1.)
—Ian Allan