James Cook on IG Live - "15 mill year" EDIT: Scrubbed his IG and Doubled Down on Twitter

[DaVinci]

[AkwiredTste]

2 hours ago, wppete said:

I just checked. Cook has another year left on his contract, whats he talking about? if he wants to hold out let him and fine him like crazy. I think Ray Davis will fill in just OK. Honour your contract!    
 

https://overthecap.com/free-agency/buffalo-bills#google_vignette

I agree, only thing is he's scrubbed his social and ish, negotiations have started. I think he sits if he doesn't get a deal...he has started the hunt and I don't think he would be willing to risk injury...something will get done

[JohnNord]

1 hour ago, Beck Water said:

 

I don't think the Bills much care for it either.  They've previously made clear they don't want to negotiate contracts in public.

 

Beane would extend Cook for the same reason he's extended other players with a year remaining on their contracts:

-players really don't like to play on a 1 year contract because nothing is guaranteed if they get hurt, so the team has a bit more leverage

-the team can talk up getting new money up front/guarantees while the player has the choice "play for us on a 1 year, or take a new contract that might be less than the open market would give you IF you don't get hurt and IF you have another great year

 

Beane will definitely prioritize negotiating with any of the team's FA he wants to re-up, then negotiating with FA, then the draft, before he tries to extend guys who are currently under contract.

 

As far as how he prioritizes extensions, arguably Cook is the one with the most notable stats across the league.  Of the RBs who are top-20 for attempts, he is 16th for yards (reflecting his lower number of attempts, but 5th for Y/A and tied for 1st in TDs. 

I personally feel that Shakir is the least replaceable player simply because of how reliable his hands are and how little else the Bills have at WR, but as a receiver his stats aren't that remarkable.
 

 

I'm not sure, but I think if the Bills want the best pass-protecting RB or the best route-running, receiving RB, Cook is neither - so it's bench time.

I completely trust Brandon Beane to navigate this situation either way.  He has done a nice job of re-signing players early before they hit the market (Spencer Brown) and also passing on players who would command a bigger contract than their value (Tremaine Edmunds).   He also been very good at managing the cap.

These are the highest paid NFL running backs:

 

Christian McCaffrey, $16 million 

Alvin Kamara, $15 million 

Jonathan Taylor, $14 million 

Saquon Barkley, $12.6 million 

Josh Jacobs, $12 million 

Joe Mixon, $9.9 million 

Derrick Henry, $8 million 

D'Andre Swift, $8 million 

Tony Pollard, $7.3 million 

James Conner, $7 million

 

Cook isn’t getting $15 million from any NFL team, including Buffalo.   I think $11M-$12M is most likely and I wouldn’t be surprised if he signs for that amount in Buffalo. 

 

[Ya Digg?]

57 minutes ago, AkwiredTste said:

Dude wants his bag, don't blame him. Offer him between 10-12, if Dalvin doesn't like it, package him up and move on. Defenses win championships, not 45% snap rb's. Don't need the distraction Dalvin!!!

We have bigger needs to fill 

Dalvin? Is this what we’re doing now? 🙄🙄🙄

Edited 12 hours ago by Ya Digg?

[AkwiredTste]

5 hours ago, Ya Digg? said:

Dalvin? Is this what we’re doing now? 🙄🙄🙄

Meh...no we, just me. I don't remember you co-writing the post. That you Jimbo?

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

If Beane even entertains this ridiculous crap then I will be extremely disappointed. Cook is nice, but RB is by far the most easy position to replace. Ray Davis has shown ability as an all purpose back and Ty Johnson is one of the best 3rd down backs in the league. I think either one of them could carry the load. Ty Johnson situation reminds me so much of Fred Jackson. He’s just never really been given the chance because of his pedigree and yet produces every limited chance he’s gotten.
 

The numbers don’t lie, TJ has seemingly gotten better the older he gets. Career 4.6 yard avg and 5.2 last year. What really sells me though is his receiving ability & pass blocking. He has potential to be an all purpose threat in the mold of McCaffrey. I am very intrigued on what his numbers would look if given a starter’s amount of touches.

 

I’m not sure why he went so late in the draft. He’s a pretty bulky RB with 4.4 speed. Johnson is only 27 years old and very little wear & tear plus Ray Davis taking some of the load. A 60/40 split would be ideal. I don’t think the Bills would miss a beat and might even improve through the air. The more I think about it, the more comfortable I am with this hypothetical situation. 

Edited 4 hours ago by ChronicAndKnuckles

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

9 hours ago, JohnNord said:

These are the highest paid NFL running backs:

 

Christian McCaffrey, $16 million 

Alvin Kamara, $15 million 

Jonathan Taylor, $14 million 

Saquon Barkley, $12.6 million 

Josh Jacobs, $12 million 

Joe Mixon, $9.9 million 

Derrick Henry, $8 million 

D'Andre Swift, $8 million 

Tony Pollard, $7.3 million 

James Conner, $7 million

Paying a RB 12 million+ is pure insanity to me. What do 3/4 of the bolded have in common? They are lethal receivers that can catch it out of the backfield or split out wide. Cook is an average (at best) receiver & pass blocker. He is one of the better pure runners in football and it is truly magnificent watching him “glide” through holes, but he is still not in the same league as Saquon.
 

I love Cook’s style, he is extremely fun to watch, but I am NOT paying him that money. I would much rather Beane allocate that money towards more important positions like DE, DT, CB, and even Safety. If the Bills didn’t have any major holes then I think they could afford to spend $ on a luxury position like RB, but they do.
 

The defense has YET AGAIN let us down in the post-season. I am extremely baffled by the posters who continually want to throw money at WRs when Buffalo averages over 30 points a game. The problem is so glaring & obvious, I just don’t understand it, but I’m done going off on a tangent.
 

Do NOT give in to James Cook’s demands. Trade his ass if he refuses to honor the contract HE signed. The Bills do not need any distractions this offseason. Criticize Beane & McDermott all you want, but they have built a solid cultural foundation here. They don’t need one of their star players acting like a cranky little toddler w/ his equally idiotic brother chiming in. Sound familiar? 🤔🧐🤨

Edited 3 hours ago by ChronicAndKnuckles

[Ya Digg?]

29 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Paying a RB 12 million+ is pure insanity to me. What do 3/4 of the bolded have in common? They are lethal receivers that can catch it out of the backfield or split out wide. Cook is an average (at best) receiver & pass blocker. He is one of the better pure runners in football and it is truly magnificent watching him “glide” through holes, but he is still not in the same league as Saquon.
 

I love Cook’s style, he is extremely fun to watch, but I am NOT paying him that money. I would much rather Beane allocate that money towards more important positions like DE, DT, CB, and even Safety. If the Bills didn’t have any major holes then I think they could afford to spend $ on a luxury position like RB, but they do.
 

The defense has YET AGAIN let us down in the post-season. I am extremely baffled by the posters who continually want to throw money at WRs when Buffalo averages over 30 points a game. The problem is so glaring & obvious, I just don’t understand it, but I’m done going off on a tangent.
 

Do NOT give in to James Cook’s demands. Trade his ass if he refuses to honor the contract HE signed. The Bills do not need any distractions this offseason. Criticize Beane & McDermott all you want, but they have built a solid cultural foundation here. They don’t need one of their star players acting like a cranky little toddler w/ his equally idiotic brother chiming in. Sound familiar? 🤔🧐🤨

Once this comment is used, people lose me. We sit here and demand Von take a pay cut, have another guy restructure, move money to a different spot for this guy…basically saying teams don’t need to honor their contracts. So why do the players always have to honor theirs if teams don’t need to as well? 

[JimBob2232]

I hate these "he should follow the contract he signed" comments.  While I understand the sentiment, thats NOT how NFL contracts work.  Teams routinely sign contracts with players with void years.   Contracts signed are not guaranteed by the team.   First contracts (like James Cook) are largely pre-determined by the league, not a negotiated agreement.  In return, players have the right to use leverage they have (via holdouts etc) to make themselves more guaranteed money.  Thats how the CBA is set up.   Thats what happens in the NFL.  This is also why you dont see this kind of behavior in the MLB  where contracts are fully guaranteed - on both sides.  

 

To be clear, I dont like the way Cook is handling this in public.  Its hurt the team, and hurt his relationship with the fan base.  But he has every right to seek a new agreement - and frankly now is the right time for him to do so.

 

If I was Beane, I wouldn't pony up $15M, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he gets it.  Every year there are new record setting contracts...because the cap keeps going up.  So every contract signed becomes what looks like a gross overpay until you look at it in 3-5 years.   Take Josh Allen. When he signed his deal in 2001 - his $150M guaranteed deal was the most in NFL history, and his $43M AAV was 2nd only to Mahomes...now he is #14 in AAV below Deshawn Watson, Jordan Love, Goff, Tua, Cousins and Murray.  

 

So $15M is probably a good asking price for him.   A agree with the sentiment here though.  I'd give him $12M or move him for a 2nd round pick if you can get it.  If you cant, you're in a box.  One that he started (publicly).

[EasternOHBillsFan]

23 minutes ago, Ya Digg? said:

Once this comment is used, people lose me. We sit here and demand Von take a pay cut, have another guy restructure, move money to a different spot for this guy…basically saying teams don’t need to honor their contracts. So why do the players always have to honor theirs if teams don’t need to as well? 

 

Ever heard of holdouts? Trade demands? They happen all the time and players use their leverage. Restructuring is OPTIONAL.

 

PS: Not one of those "honor your contract" fans.

Edited 2 hours ago by EasternOHBillsFan

[extrahammer]

I would be 

10 hours ago, JohnNord said:

 

 

Cook isn’t getting $15 million from any NFL team, including Buffalo.   I think $11M-$12M is most likely and I wouldn’t be surprised if he signs for that amount in Buffalo. 

 

 

I wouldn't be surprised either if it goes lower to $10m. I really think he's just using a negotiation tactic called anchoring and he's set his ceiling, so basically anywhere between what he's making now ($5.6m?) and $15 mil per year is the spectrum that he's established based on taking this public. Which I also think he did strategically because about half or more of the fanbase believes he should get what he wants and that being public will put more pressure on the team to do something. I think they should try to sign him for $10m - $12m per year, but his reps should go up. The tier of RB's he wants to be with are getting 40+ touches a game in a lot of cases and the most he did last year was half of that. If they trade him for a good deal, I'm totally fine with that too. I don't think he's done anything to risk the chemistry of the team yet.