James Cook- special 2024 season

[Brandon]

At this point,  Cook has established himself as one of the best RBs in the league and is a source of explosive plays in this offense.  If that continues through the end of his contract,  I'd be in favor of a two or three year contract extension. 

[HappyDays]

8 hours ago, That's No Moon said:

He's not wrong.  It's not smart business to give RBs big second contracts. Just look at his brother for an example why not. 4 years of heavy use, 1 superlative year in there, then he fell off a cliff and was done at age 28.  Do we expect James' physiology to be vastly different than his brother's?  This is a very tricky contract for the Bills to navigate.  Certainly you want to keep him, but the reality of running backs is what it is. 

 

 

Dalvin Cook had known injury issues as a draft prospect. Multiple shoulder surgeries and hamstring issues. He also had 766 touches in college compared to James Cook who had just 297 touches in college. I don't worry about Cook running out of gas until he's at least 30 to be honest. His play style means he doesn't take a lot of nasty hits or a lot of contact in general, and as I noted he has relatively very little mileage because of his utilization at Georgia. Alvin Kamara is the much better comp, and he has aged very well.

 

I am always against 2nd contracts for RBs. The only thing that makes me pause with Cook is his home run ability. I know the usual thought process is that the difference from one RB to the next isn't enough to justify the extra money, but some of the TDs he scored this year are not replicable by the large majority of RBs. His combination of vision, acceleration, and quick feet makes him a legit threat to score a TD on every play and that is valuable enough to at least have the conversation about extending him IMO.

 

Ideally we would have a couple home run threats at WR on the roster and then we wouldn't need to even think about it. So if Cook goes elsewhere and we lose his explosiveness, they need to continue prioritizing the WR position to make up for it.

 

Edited Tuesday at 03:49 PM by HappyDays

[PBF81]

Let's see how he does in the playoffs first.  

 

Cook is a big-play RB.  His average production is more inconsistent than his peers at that level.  He rarely plays on 3rd-downs, 9 total touches in 15 games.  

 

It would be wise to see how he does in the playoffs once the defensive competition tightens up.  

[PoundingDog]

It's a tough decision. Ideally we want to see another year of Cook AND Davis. But like some of you mentioned, Cook may not wait for that. We shall see.

 

Is Cook a top RB in Henry, Saquon's category? Definitely not. Is he as good as a Kenneth Walker? Maybe. So it is all about where we slot him in the money ladder and what he thinks in the money ladder. Remember contract is between two parties. Someone says sign him to a 2 year extension. If you are Cook, why would you even consider that?

 

Two things I see. 1. Cook needs a good O-Line to be successful (more so than the like of Henry, Saquon). 2. He still cannot block worth a damn to the point Bills don't even put him on 3rd down situation. 

 

If I'm Cook's representative, I'd look for a Kamara comparison and ask for Kamara money based on the fact that Cook can be used, effectively I may add, as a WR. Kamara's 2nd contract is $75 million for 5 years, $20 million guarantee.

[Nephilim17]

1 hour ago, boater said:

I can't believe he will be an FA already, I remember the day he was drafted. They grow up so fast.

 

I'd give him a two year contract, but he will find better on the open market. He's as good as gone.

You can't believe it because it's not true; he has one more year (2025) in his four-year rookie deal. 

I'll blame it on the spiked eggnog!

Edited Tuesday at 05:05 PM by Nephilim17

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

James cook is the second best player on the team. And the only guy better is the literal best player in the league. I couldn’t really think of a better way to show appreciation for 4 but I absolutely love this dude. You can have your Barkley and your Henry…I’ll take our guy any day. He does it all and he shares a lot of carries. Absolutely vital to who we are and one of the main reasons we are a great team. We have had some incredible running backs in the last 50 years and this guy is right up there with all of them. 

[Big Turk]

Tied for NFL lead in rushing TDs with Jalen Hurts at 14.

 

Tied for the NFL lead in rush/receiving TDs with Jamar Chase at 16.

 

4 TD runs of 40+ yards on the year including 3 in the last 4 weeks.

 

Pretty great season for #4.

Edited Tuesday at 05:31 PM by Big Turk

[JerseyBills]

Cook is a joy to watch, phenomenal back that they developed perfectly.  Easily top 5 RB in the game 

[MDH]

9 hours ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

So you're willing to gut this offense to save a few dollars?  Cook is special, one of the few backs worth that second contract.  The only reason he doesn't put up Saquon numbers is because Josh Allen is way better than Jalen Hurts as a passer.  Right now the offense runs through Cook, and I don't see that changing next year.

Bills have to decide on many extensions this year. Groot, Benford, Bernard, Shakir and Cook top the list. They likely can’t keep all of them. I love Cook but he’s the first off that list that I don’t extend. This is the “problem” with drafting well, particularly with most in a single draft class.

[Doc Brown]

4 hours ago, Ga boy said:

I’ve been wrong a bunch (Losman, Manuel, Edmunds) but from draft day I was right about Cook.  He was underused at UGA but his flashes were Kamara-like.  Shady had more wiggle but Cook gets through the hole as fast as anyone then he’s vapor.  IF the Bills get the Lombardi, Cook will be a big reason … so you’ll have to sign him.  That’s a big IF.  IF so, we would’ve proven we don’t need to expend big bucks at WR.  Keep Cook, then get a DE and DT in the draft.  Merry Christmas to all 🎄🦬

I hated the Losman and Manuel pick.  Both felt like huge reaches to me.  The Allen pick I was more intrigued by but I would've preferred Rosen at the time.  Edmunds is pry the one I missed on the most.  I thought he'd be an all pro LB.

 

One thing about Cook that I can't really shake is when his agent told Scheffler he was going to play against the Fish.  He didn't play and I've never seen that happen before so he obviously has an aggressive agent who's going to want a massive second contract.  My guess is Beane will let him walk after next year as I think Cook rightfully will be looking for a huge contract.  It may get ugly next off-season but he's still under contract for another year.  Maybe there's some incentive based money milestones they can add to the last year of his contract next year.

[Matt_In_NH]

13 hours ago, Dr.Sack said:

29 rush TDs and 28 TOs created are a big reason we are 12-3. 

Interesting, all I usually read here is it is all 17

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Let’s see what happens in the playoffs.

 

 

[Doc Brown]

2 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

James cook is the second best player on the team. And the only guy better is the literal best player in the league. I couldn’t really think of a better way to show appreciation for 4 but I absolutely love this dude. You can have your Barkley and your Henry…I’ll take our guy any day. He does it all and he shares a lot of carries. Absolutely vital to who we are and one of the main reasons we are a great team. We have had some incredible running backs in the last 50 years and this guy is right up there with all of them. 

Hypothetically, let's say we were forced to pick one injury to one of these players to miss the rest of the season.  Rousseau, Cook, Benford, Bernard, Cooper, or Dawkins.  Which one are you choosing?

[The Frankish Reich]

11 hours ago, That's No Moon said:

How much and how long are you willing to go?

 

I didn't say I was willing to gut the offense, I'm just acknowledging the reality of the RB situation in the world.

 

and FWIW, people in Minnesota would have been down for giving his brother big money too.  He was amazing for a couple years there.

When we drafted him I would have been happy if he gave us 80% of prime Dalvin. 100% and counting so far …

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

11 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

Hypothetically, let's say we were forced to pick one injury to one of these players to miss the rest of the season.  Rousseau, Cook, Benford, Bernard, Cooper, or Dawkins.  Which one are you choosing?

Cooper. Not even close. Idk why you’d include him.  I know what you were attempting to do and I understand but you threw in a guy that’s made zero impact on a super deep position. Cook wouldn’t be second there by the way. If you need me to play the game it’s the guys on the defense. Our defense is horrendous. They are terrible with those guys. Not going to be worse without them unfortunately. 

[playaction]

Did James come out in the Breece Hall draft?

[Doc Brown]

33 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Cooper. Not even close. Idk why you’d include him.  I know what you were attempting to do and I understand but you threw in a guy that’s made zero impact on a super deep position. Cook wouldn’t be second there by the way. If you need me to play the game it’s the guys on the defense. Our defense is horrendous. They are terrible with those guys. Not going to be worse without them unfortunately. 

Because I saw how good defenses like the Texans attack us without an outside WR threat and it wasn't pretty.

[Virgil]

I'm waiting until the regular season to do a risers/fallers list on the team, but Cook is clearly in the top tier or players who addressed previous concerns and had a fantastic season.  For a guy who made you hold your breath every play because he was averaging one costly turnover or dropped TD a game, Cook has become a consistent, reliable home-run hitting player.  I'd argue him and Spencer Brown are the top two players who really turned a corner this year.

 

As I have it now:

 

Most Improved:

1 - Cook

2 - Brown

3 - Dorian Williams

4 - Rapp

5 - Shakir

*Josh took a huge step forward, but I would argue he more-so adjusted his skill set.  He's already been a pro-bowler

 

[Coffeesforclosers]

 I'm absolutely loathe to let home grown, game breaking talent walk away.

 

That's how you end up in a Jets-type death spiral.

 

Hopefully the rest of the NFL will stick by the current received wisdom and keep driving down RB contract prices.

 

Keep Cook in Buffalo, and for the love of God, keep carries under 250/season.

[stevestojan]

He was always “Dalvin’s little brother.” 
 

Well, big bro is now spending most of his time between the bench and a practice squad.