Einstein's Dog

I disagree that he is trying to get paid for the production he has done. Cook's production in '24 was like J Mixon or D Henry - $8M dollar RBs. Cook wants almost double that. IMO Cook is basing his worth on continued improvement - that's only way $15M would come close to making sense. If Cook goes through 2025 and has the same production as 2024 why would a team then pay him more than an inflation adjusted Mixon or D Henry? And I don't think Cook will improve substantially in Buffalo in 2025. I agree with your point about taking the 3rd now. This situation looks like a problem in the making.

Why wouldn't a team trade for Cook, as long as Cook agrees he will play, the acquiring team would get Cook for a year at a great $5M rate. We took A Cooper as a rental. The acquiring team would get a motivated Cook who wants to work all 3 downs for the year for a big FA payday in 2026. Players care about their usage because it is directly tied to their pay. Diggs saw "everyone eats" coming and wanted out. If J Cook sees another 2 to 3 man RB split the same type of analysis says - "get out now". Cook hinders his big payday if he doesn't continue improving his stats.

IMO, it's his agent and brother who are advising him to hold out. By "throwing away" $3M, Cook may get a $12M/yr multi-year contract in 2026 - with a nice chunk of guaranteed money. By playing on his $5M contract he risks getting hurt and not getting this big payday.

As an aside, based on your comment earlier in the thread and realizing this hold out is a real possibility, I have reduced my trade value. Before I couldn't see moving him unless it was a second but now I won't blame Beane for trading for less - this could get ugly and Beane may want to bail. This is unfortunate, just when you're in a position to get good value this happens.

Rookies in their 4th year may not have held out before but there looks like a logical reason to do it. Cook could wait until week 11 to show up. Agreed upon rules? No, it's the contracts and money that are driving this show.

Not if they say they will hold out. Then his value to the Bills and his trade value, decrease significantly. That could be their threat. By holding out for most of the season Cook can still be valued mostly by his nice 2024 stats- with the slight extrapolation of showing the improvement (wouldn't have the expected plateau of all of 2025). This could get ugly. If you don't think Cook's stats in 2025 will increase (which I don't with the same people back) then a logical move by the Cook team is to not play in Buffalo (or at least not until week 11). Cook would want to go to a team that will use him as a bell cow back so his stats in 2025 once again increase.

Cook asking for $20M in 2026?? I don't see it. At least I don't see him getting it. And to even be in the discussion Cook can't just replicate 2024 production he needs to significantly exceed it - in yardage and in usage (needs to be in there on 3rd downs). I think part of the motivation from Cook's camp to get him out of Buffalo is that he will not be a 3 down featured back here, thus never worth $15M (much less $20M). I think it is Brady's vision to use a combination of several RBs, and it makes sense - you need to prepare for a long 20 games, being dependent on one RB is risky (and more expensive in the long run). Brady isn't going to be using Cook as a 3 down back so Beane won't be paying Cook as a top tier 3 down back. So, much like Diggs saw Brady's "everyone eats" mantra as a detriment to his individual stats and forced his way out, it's possible Cook sees Brady's RB usage as limiting his potential payday and wants out. Unfortunately, I can understand the logic from his side (I don't like it but I see it). Seems unlikely Cook will significantly increase his stats in 2025 in Buffalo so you force your way out now.

Reread what I said, I would not trade Cook for a 3rd. Any 3rd rounder we got would not be of the level of Cook so the team would be weaker. If that means no team trades for Cook so be it, have Cook play it out here. You don't trade an ascending top 10 RB, drafted in the second round, with a salary of $5M, for a third.

I would not want to trade Cook for a third. A third round RB would not be as good as Cook is now. This year is the year of most value from Cook at $5M. I hope he plays at this price.

A 3rd? The Bills used a 2nd to get Cook. And the Bills have dealt with the growing pains to get to where he is now, an excellent, but not complete RB. The Bills could probably get something close to a 3rd in a comp pick when he leaves if he gets close to $15M on the open market. Secondly, Cook is one of the offenses most exciting weapons, he has the ability to take it to the house on almost any play. The Bills did not acquire anyone else who is near that level (didn't want DK at his price apparently). Moving on from Cook weakens the team in 2025. So, no, I don't want the FO to trade Cook for a third. Yes, have Cook play out his contract if a reasonable extension isn't able to be done. As to the OP, slight modification, it's not that Cook is talking, it is about the substance of what we see as a negotiating problem. Cook put out a $15M figure clueing in most of Bills nation that there will be a problem (and the problem stems from Cook's end). We don't know if Benford is doing an outrageously high figure because he hasn't posted it. Seems like it was a bizarre miscalculation from Cook's camp that floating that figure would somehow help them.

Yeah, that still hurts. If you look back that's an obvious one and even D Adams hurts for me. When looking to the future though, I'm hoping they are not done because losing A Cooper and even Hollins is not made up for with J Palmer and Shenault IMO. Unfortunately, I don't see an easy answer. From here out, I think the big choices are among using one of the Bills top 3 picks at another attempt at WR, vs A Cooper, vs mid-season trade. With the draft pick you shouldn't expect more than K Coleman level production for '25. With A Cooper you have to deal with winning the bidding war and have to excuse the lack of production in '24 to some excuse. And with a '25 midseason trade you don't know who will be available and it misses a third to half the season.

I think it's acceptable and between stayed the same and slightly improved. Love the extensions (getting ahead of the curve) and the Bosa move (great value IMO) and am intrigued that they have a sleeper starting safety. Worried about the CB and disappointed with our WR moves (hope it's not done). However my expectations were for a splash signing. I thought the FO took their medicine a year early on Diggs to have the flexibility to get a star this year. So I had visions of a Garrett or Crosby or Hendrickson or DK Metcalf. I was disappointed that DK Metcalf went for what he did to Pitt.

So, who do you want? It's March. The FA choices are A Cooper/S Diggs/D Johnson/K Allen/E Moore/T Lockett/B Cooks/N Algolor/M Gallop/R Woods

I would be open to a trade deadline move, especially if the WR room we have now is what we have for the '25 season (still have hope that maybe we can add A Coop). Even in the small sample size you are referencing there is Raoul and A Cooper, which served to make the team better in their respective seasons. If a trade can make the team better for a post-season run I hope Beane pulls the trigger. The Bills are close. If mid-season a B Aiyuk/G Pickens/T Hill/ or AJ Brown would elevate the team for the stretch run - and possibly beyond- Beane should do it.

Puka was selected in the 5th round - anyone could have had him. The comparison isn't Trubisky but T Brady. As for Dalton Kincaid he is an extremely fluid player with great hands. He played through injuries last year, it in no way means he's toast. He does need to add strength - he and Coleman have been told as much - and the strength and conditioning coach has been replaced. The idea of trading Kincaid is insane. The Bills finally have a very good TE room, probably their best ever, and people want to tear it down.