FLFan

He was signed last year by the Ravens to a two year contract.

Sorry, but this would be an extraordinarily disappointing draft with what the Bills have done so far. The good news is that I am expecting Beane will outperform this fan draft by quite a bit.

Lots of unfounded speculation here. The fact is we have no idea what Cook was offered by the Bills, nor what his real number is, or what the nature of their discussions with his agent were. We only know they are not close to a deal. Would the Bills pay $12 m as you suggest? (Or even the Palmer contract which is reality is nothing like the $36m reported) Perhaps. Will Cook settle for less than $15 m which is way over his real value? Who knows. The bills did the right thing in putting this back on him it seems to me. If he wants out, good riddance. If he wants to play for the Bills, I am sure there is a deal to be made, but he is not getting $15m per year from them or anything close, nor should he. As for lack of explosive wide receivers to make his job easier as you suggest, he has one of the best Offensive Lines in the NFL to make his job easier. He has Josh Allen whose presence on the field makes Cook’s job immeasurably easier.

It’s a good thing the Bills are more patient than you. All three of those players showed flashes of what they can be. All three had injuries that derailed their progress in one way or another. If their second seasons are not big jumps in performance then by all means come back with your assessment. The Bills should not have been in a position to rely on rookies performing? I guess that’s your other point. What did you not understand about retooling and getting younger? This is part of the game.

Excellent post. It is the crux of the issue. I firmly believe the Bills have no intention of paying him anything close to his ask, or for that matter, of extending him at all. They should shop him aggressively before the draft. If not, Cook has no other viable option than to show up and perform, or he will be at the bottom of the pile next year.

Being hyper sensitive to criticism is not the way to garner any respect around here. Just so you know.

He has been dead to me for quite some time. Patriots? Bring it on.

I think they are pretty well done for now. They are going to have to add a CB, a WR, and possibly others for camp bodies and backup after the draft. What type of players will depend on who they draft, and particularly, on whether they are done negotiating with Benford and Cook. They will need additional moves to fit those guys in as well.

So now we are going to start having Brady envy regarding the best player the Bills have ever had? I feel sad for you.

It would be very shocking if they signed Hendrickson. They are done with the big money contracts.

The biggest reason is that the Bengals have no intention of trading him and never did.

This is the level that should have been expected. The Bills do not have the cap space to sign anyone in the next tier. Jackson is serviceable and improves their depth. They are counting on finding a legitimate starter in the draft, which is scary given the Elam fiasco.

Hamlin actually seems to have very good instincts for the position but simply does not have the athleticism to capitalize. He is an excellent backup I think.

They were definitely chasing need that year and got burned.

It’s a Bills Fan tradition here at TBD.

Great news.

***** him.

Good point. Diggs ran 4.42 at the combine. Hardly a burner, yet he was an elite separator in his prime. Speed is not the biggest factor in separation. Palmer is a great fit for the Z role in Buffalo.

Certainly true, but I also think that Cooper’s skill set is diminished from what it what once was.

Agreed. This is not a Hollins replacement. This is a receiver who fills a hole, perhaps better than Cooper did last year. Upgrade IMO.

Yes, and the Bills are simply not shopping for a starting safety. People need to deal with that. They will be looking for depth and will likely add during the draft, for depth.

Maybe not, but I keep coming back to Rousseau's salary cap number this year before the extension. If they were not going to cut or trade him, they had to get that number down this year, and they did. Perhaps their thinking was that Rousseau would have been part of a Garrett deal. If so that would not have made me happy given we have nothing at all behind him.

Well, in the end, Garrett really was not available, and neither is Hendrickson for that matter. Even if he was, letting Rousseau go was never in the cards.

This is what I have thought from the beginning. Cincy has every intention of keeping him and making him play out his existing contract. They do not appear to be very interested in a lucrative extension. This is how the Bengals roll.

And sports franchise marketing experts as well.