GunnerBill

Yea Williams is a churn it out, volume rusher. I confess my bias to be being less of a fan of that type of player. I'd just always value what Cook gives me higher.

I think Cook is better than Kyren. But $11m AAV could definitely help Beane persuade Cook's side that $12.5m AAV is more of the landing zone than $14m. Tom Pelissaro said he understands the parties are not far apart which makes me suspect that Cook and his agents have already come down a little from $15m. I think the conversations at this stage are likely in the spirit of where within that $10-15m range is the fair landing spot and then what level of guarantees are associated with it and how many years is it for.

Cook was excellent in 2023 too, just without the use in the redzone. Once they started giving him the ball down there instead of always defaulting to rushing Josh, Cook showed he could be really productive. His first year less so, but he sat behind Singletary a ton, waste of time that was. I just don't think Davis has the vision of Cook (in fairness not many do) and he doesn't have the explosion either. He can be a serviceable starter in the way Singletary was for a few years but it is in that lower end, baseline starter territory IMO. I'm with you that I'd much prefer to spend my dollars and have my explosive production at my premium positions and if that takes being a bit worse at running back to achieve that, who cares? To do that is likely going to take trading assets as well though because those explosive contributors at premium spots don't hit FA very often (if at all) and the Bills passed on the chance to swing those trades this past spring. I will say again if they don't extend Cook this summer and one of the pass catchers shows themselves to be that explosive playmaker this year then you absolutely let Cook walk and take the comp pick. But even in a world where Cook plays out his deal if you don't get explosive pass game plays from structure at a better clip than 2024 then I think you have to think very carefully before letting the explosive rusher you have in Cook leave the building.

Last year we really struggled to produce explosive pass plays in structure. And it wasn't for lack of calling them. We couldn't get deep separation and Josh and his receivers were not on the same page on some occasions as well. Josh will always make some explosives out of structure in scramble drill, broken play situations but if that is the ONLY way you are getting explosives from your offense I think that is a problem over the course of the season. Last season that was supplemented by a healthy dose of explosive run plays from Cook. You can feel better about the chances of getting in structure pass game explosives in 2025 than 2024, I'm not even telling you I disagree with you there... but until we see it then it's not proven. I want our explosives to come from the passing game. That is my preference. But one of those pass catchers needs to step up and prove they can make them at a reasonably regular clip of at least one every game or two before I'll believe it and, critically, before opposition teams will start playing to stop it which prevents them doing other things against us in the passing game - i.e. the Baltimore stack the middle philosophy or KC's overload blitzes. You can feel that. I don't. And I pray we never have to find out. He doesn't have the vision or the explosiveness.

No it isn't superstar to scrub. It's top 10 back to borderline starting talent. It's going back from having someone who can make difference making plays there to the Singletary / Moss era where your running back is "fine." And we simply don't have the explosiveness in the pass game right now that we had back then as a counterbalance.

AJ Brown. He is the third best receiver in football. It is Jefferson, Chase, Brown in that order. I think there is a gap between the top 2 and Brown but a bigger gap between Brown and whoever you have #4. Yea. I said it earlier. He turns 30 in September, that is wide receiver decline territory. Especially a guy like Terry for whom speed is a key facet of his game. I'm not sure it makes sense for any top team to give up assets commensurate with what the Commanders would want, plus the contract that Terry would want given the age. If he was a free agent and you were just gambling one asset (i.e. free agency dollars) I could see it as worth a shot. But Washington are going to want at least a 2nd round pick too. That is a lot of premium asset spend on a 30 year old speed receiver.

I do think the drop off is significant. But agree Cook isn't sitting out. He will play.

The first para is only true if you are looking at the micro. Its about the macro. And the owners will not be successful in cutting the percentage (its 48%). If anything yhey may have to increase it or offer another concession to get their 18th game.

In the case of one player, sure. But as a general principle, no. If players don't drive up the market price for their positions as the cap increases that benefits the owners. I get as a Bills fan it is easy to look at the micro as to how it affects this team and nothing else but you have to look at the macro across the league. The NFLPA and the players themselves have to push the envelope.

Just on Benford specifically I think if I was his agent I'd have been advising him to leave some money on the table for as much security as possible. He has not made a ton as a 6th round pick and the concussion history is a concern. That one was the rare case where as an agent you say "look you can hold out for your max value if you want to but the sensible play here is take the $37.5m guaranteed and if in two years you have stayed healthy and further proven yourself then I can always go back for more money." I don't think he is quite a top 5 corner by the way. But he isn't more than a place or two off... I just think the context on his means the Bills probably did get a small hometown discount there.

I accept the alternative for the player isn't poverty. But I will always be in favour of the players getting the money and not the owners. And for running backs in particular the market has been tough. I have no problem with Cook wanting top of the market value. If I was his agent that is what I'd be pitching for too.

The guy you need to compare him to is Big Ben IMO. And as he got beyond 30 he definitely changed his game. He was never a runner as such but he used to get outside the pocket at take licks in his 20s to try and make a play down the field and that faded away completely in his 30s. However, until the elbow surgery in year 17 for him he was still playing at a very high level. And his comeback the year after that he was still a serviceable game manager he just couldn't throw deep any more. I think Josh can have a long career. But he won't always be able to do some of the things that make him so unique.

Personally I think there are a few factors, but the two most significant are: 1. I think they genuinely do not think he is a very good pass protecting back (and it's true, he isn't). Ty Johnson has a specific role on the team as a result which results in a 3rd back stealing a lot of snaps and some carries; and 2. They just believe in rotating backs through. It is who they have been since they have been here. Again I say this a lot but when you wanna know what Brandon Beane believe in go look at the Carolina Panthers. They had DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart sharing the load in the backfield together for years. It is a bit like their belief with regards to rotating defensive lineman. It's philosophical for them.

This is exactly the point. If the Bills can get difference making explosive plays from one of their pass catchers they should absolutely not pay James Cook. But they haven't had that. The only guy on the offense who makes explosive plays aside from Josh is Cook. If that is still the case come February / March you have to ask what is the best way of securing that for your football team in 2026. I very much doubt a wide receiver who is anything like a slam dunk to give you that hits FA.... so you are either left with the option to trade an asset for one and then pay them (the DK Metcalf debate all over again) or you pay Cook to provide them from the running back position. I think paying a running back is absolutely sub-optimal in this NFL. It might be slightly less sub-optimal than leaving Josh with nobody beyond himself to make explosive plays.

They dialled his rushes down by 30 and he played a game fewer. It equates to about one rush per game. Which I think we can safely attribute to the Bills being a 13-3 football team and load managing across their roster rather than one that was balls to the wall the whole home stretch in 2023 to make the post season. The "oh he is too small" is something dinosaurs stuck in the 1990s say. And I am not even banging the table to keep Cook. But he could take a larger workload, his size does not hold him back at all. He wins because he has elite vision.

I didn't though. I chimed into a thread to say Tom Brady is the GOAT and there is no room for debate. That's it. I did not insert myself in anyone's conversation. I didn't quote anyone, I didn't respond to any particular point by anyone, I simply made a statement.

This is b*ll*cks.

I wasn't having any debate. About anything. Brady is the GOAT. That is all I said. But to your point... how do you know the greatest isn't Graham or Unitas?

I didn't see Montana play, nope. I didn't see Unitas play either, or Otto Graham... But Brady took it to the point where it was beyond debate and you don't need to have watched all those other guys. I didn't see Pele play either, but I don't need to. Messi is the GOAT.

Brady is the GOAT. There is no argument or debate needed.

So he is touch and go for the Ravens game.

He will if he is ready to play. But this majorly reduces those chances.

The rules have changed significantly in favour of offense since then.

I think that was the plan, 100%. But he wasn't very good last pre-season and never made it past 3rd team oline. The one game he played serious snaps in week 18 at New England the pass blocking was not clever. Then he comes into camp on PUP. I do not think his roster spot is as safe as some think it is. And Chase Lundt is every inch a classic Kromer OL, whereas VPG isn't in terms of physical profile. It is a big summer for VPG and he needs to get on the field quick or else it can go sideways for him.

Also worth saying even if you ARE a "rugby phenom" that does not guarantee anything in football. Louis Rees-Zammit was one of the best young rugby players in the entire world. After a year trying to make it in the NFL he has called it quits and gone back to rugby.