DrDawkinstein

Nice to have this done and get some perspective for both sides. It wont be the same deal for Cook, he'll be looking for more. He's an explosive weapon, and a 2nd round big name vs a 5th rounder. As much as anyone wants to say that doesnt matter, it definitely plays into the player's willingness to "settle". Same thing happened with Benford and Shakir. We'll have a to pay a bit of a premium, but hopefully not much more.

I see your logic, but the reason the players (and many of us) disagree and do not see it that way is due to 1. the ever increasing cap (which has been EXPLODING with streaming money) and 2. the owners needing to give a bigger cut of revenue. The cap is set for a year, but then it goes up and there is new available money. So get every penny you can right now in your current negotiation, and there will be more for me when it's my turn in a year or two. And while I doubt the NFLPA pulls it off, especially in its current weakened state, there is a ton of money to go after with every additional percentage point. It's zero sum year to year, but not over the course of their career or contract.

I mean, check out my post at the top of this page as far as what it looks like when they go to the other RBs. The coaches moving away from Cook is more bad coaching (again) than anything to do with Cook. Why would Etienne, a blue chip 1st round pick from a top program in his contract year, take less than Cook? They are literally in the same situation. Except Etienne can blame the Jags organization for his lack of production. You're just right back where you were. This is Cook with extra steps. Sign the guy you drafted and who has been in the locker room the last 3 years.

He could have, especially in the AFC Championship. The coaches botching the decision making is par for the course, especially when playing KC. Got too cute and over thought it instead of sticking with the hot hand and the basics.

Folks keep saying this... Here are our last 3 drives in the AFC Championship game when it was close and we needed Offensive production the most. I didnt do the whole game because we all already know Cook had a great game and was playing lights out the whole time. Check this for comparision... How'd Ray and Ty do on the big stage when it mattered most?

I mean, he kinda has, in that he hasnt had many tough negotiations since so many of these guys are just happy to sign any offer. The Cook situation is very interesting to me because it's really Beane's first tough negotiation. Everything else has been a kinda obvious decision one way or another. Beane negotiates through the media as much as, if not more than, Cook and the other players.

Outside of Rousseau and Oliver, who were 1st round picks at premium positions and therefore got paid way more than they had proven and happy to take that money, all the other guys were mid/late round picks from small programs who are thrilled to just be playing in the NFL. It's easier for Beane to pay a bit of a premium on Greg and Ed since they are on the DL. But if Beane was low-balling them because of their position and some philosphy of "you dont pay DL", then who knows how things would have turned out. Especially considering they are rotational players who only play a percentage of snaps as well.

That's not how the players see it tho. GoBills808 had it right. There are tons of interviews of players confirming this. Of course it isnt absolute. I'm sure some do. But by and large, they all want guys to get as much as they can.

Josh just got a new deal and huge raise when he had a number of years left on the contract he signed and was already paid hundreds of millions of dollars. Start there.

Unless the team tramples all over your freedom and Franchise Tags you, and continues to own you, while you risk it all on a single injury. This is business. All Pro, not Pro Bowls.

Tell that to Josh first and foremost. Brady did it. A few million to Josh is NOTHING. A few million to a RB is his entire future. But we wouldnt dare...

Which is what made it so nice to have Cook last year take a lot of those QB runs off of Allen's shoulders. Runs that Davis and Ty cant do.

"Quiet quitting" has been an official thing for years now, and has been going on in corporate America for decades. Every office has people who glide by, under the radar, doing nothing. Usually motivated by getting screwed over by corporate culture enough times, passed over for promotions, raises, etc. Additionally, people use all the leverage they can to negotiate raises, including finding new jobs and threatening to leave if not matched or more. These guys dont get to do that, so this is all they can do.

Reported

I always qualify that game by reminding people the only time the Dolphins beat Josh was when they HARNESSED THE POWER OF THE SUN. It took that much for them to beat us. And even then, barely.

Yep. $14-17M for Knox to be backup TE $9M/yr on Palmer who has done nothing $8M for Samuel to be WR4 role player $7M for Hoecht to sit out suspended $7M for Ogunjobi to do the same... But we cant pay Cook, our most productive Offensive player outside of the league MVP, our only player besides Josh listed in the NFL Top 100 because... "he's a RB" Crazy.

Everyone eats, but the Cook FEASTS

Agreed. Look, as a Bills fan I'd love for every player to agree to play here for vet minimum. But that isnt happening, nor is it fair to the guys who actually make the league what it is. Who put their bodies and long term health on the line. Who have been training and working at this for decades. And who typically have less than 6-8 years to cash in. If the NFLPA had a spine, it would be more like a 65/35 revenue split in favor of the players.

No. I said "You guys are expecting him to leave generational wealth on the table". As in, the difference between taking $12M/yr and $15M/yr on a 4yr contract is $12M left on the table. That $12M alone is generational wealth if managed properly. It's one thing if the sides are less than a million apart. Easy to argue either side should meet the other one. But if/when I have one shot to get paid, I'm not going to be happy leaving $10M-$15M behind just to please the people of Buffalo, NY.

He had multiple goal line TDs last year, and some he even ran OVER defenders. That was the big add to his game. He came in a bit heavier and stronger and just as fast, and added the ability to run through tackles. It could be well argued we should have handed him the ball at the end of the Chiefs game instead of letting Josh get stuffed on something the Chiefs knew was coming.

Because it's still way cheaper than $43M/yr to Parsons. Almost half.

I think that is why including Ed Oliver makes a lot of sense in this fantasy scenario. It gives the Cowboys a player to swap in on the DL, and gives us $11M in cap space. Then we only need to find... about $30M more in cap space 😆 Although I assume any big, long term deal would give us lower cap hits in the first couple of years.

McLaurin isnt getting dealt. But Cook and Ed and a couple 1st round picks could be in play for Parsons. Who said trade? I'm talking open Free Agency market, which would be next offseason (unless he gets Franchise Tagged which I think is a good possibility)

Never said sane. There are a lot of crazy GMs out there. And they ALL seem to lose their mind when FA hits. I'd set the over/under at there being at least 4 teams that would pay him $15M/yr. Top of my head, the Patriots absolutely would right now. And again the "$15M/yr" just has to be the face value average that his agent gets to brag about. There are multiple ways, like with every contract announced, that the real cap numbers do not match the average. The Bills, in all their sanity, could lock him up through his prime, give him his bragging point, and still keep the cap hit around $12M or less. What's the problem?

Business is boomin!