Bills halt contract negotiations with Cook

[DrDawkinstein]

13 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

Why? He has one contract that will matter the rest of his life. He knows Beane was going to come in with the bargain deal. He doesn't want the bargain deal and wanted to be very clear in how he communicated that. As far as I can tell he did exactly what he wanted to do and likely what will generate him the most money. I can't remember nearly any player who took this approach and at the end of it everybody was saying what a mistake that player made. They all said the same things about Lamar Jackson. In the end Lamar did just fine and Cook will as well. 

 

Ja'marr Chase and CeeDee Lamb also scrubbed their socials and made public comments. They signed huge deals. I'm sure there are others I'm not remembering off the top of my head. As long as it doesnt get to hold-out-status, we're good.

 

Look at all the public statements Myles Garrett just made. Landed him a huge deal.

[Returntoglory]

20 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

It's silly that people are so riled up about it. If my old man was buying a 10k used car he would start with "how much are you paying me to take this piece of crap". He's just negotiating. 

Why? He has one contract that will matter the rest of his life. He knows Beane was going to come in with the bargain deal. He doesn't want the bargain deal and wanted to be very clear in how he communicated that. As far as I can tell he did exactly what he wanted to do and likely what will generate him the most money. I can't remember nearly any player who took this approach and at the end of it everybody was saying what a mistake that player made. They all said the same things about Lamar Jackson. In the end Lamar did just fine and Cook will as well. 

You certainly assume an awful lot!

30 minutes ago, boyst said:

If anyone ever wonders about the downfalls of sports journalism just give them the link to this article. 

Riiiight 😉

15 minutes ago, Buffalo ill said:

I hope he gets a deal he can live with from the Bills and continues to make big plays for them.

He and his Bro have BIG MOUTHS!

7 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Ja'marr Chase and CeeDee Lamb also scrubbed their socials and made public comments. They signed huge deals. I'm sure there are others I'm not remembering off the top of my head. As long as it doesnt get to hold-out-status, we're good.

 

Look at all the public statements Myles Garrett just made. Landed him a huge deal.

Do you put Cook in there class? 

[Mikie2times]

Just now, Returntoglory said:

You certainly assume an awful lot!

What am I assuming exactly? That Beane wasn't going to pay him what he wanted? That isn't a stretch. That this will work out just fine for Cook? Again, not a stretch. That Cook is posturing? Again, not a stretch. Vs the bulk of the board saying Cook is money hungry, selfish, and not a team player as a result of this, are they not "assuming" as much or more than I am with such an outlook?

[Beast]

He’s talented for sure but not a 3 down back. I don’t offer any more than 8 million for that and I know that won’t come close to getting the job done. 
 

I try to deal him at or before the draft and get another back this draft. Allegedly this is a deep RB draft. 

 

 

Edited Monday at 10:45 PM by Beast

[SoonerBillsFan]

5 minutes ago, Beast said:

He’s talented for sure but not a 3 down back. I don’t offer any more than 8 million for that and I know that won’t come close to getting the job done. 
 

I try to deal him at or before the draft and get another back this draft. Allegedly this is a deep RB draft. 

 

 

^^^^^

This guy gets it.

[DrDawkinstein]

17 minutes ago, Returntoglory said:

Do you put Cook in there class? 

 

In the Ja'marr Chase/CeeDee Lamb class? Absolutely.

 

He's our 2nd best player on Offense, behind only the league MVP. He has the ability to take it to the house on any play and had MULTIPLE 45+ yd TD runs last year.

[Nihilarian]

1 hour ago, Don Otreply said:

Yup, exactly what I stated in a thread yesterday, I as well suspect more noise from Cook will get him traded during the draft, jmo, 

 

Beane don’t play that she ite, 

Perhaps Beane can trade him to Dallas for Micah Parsons?

 

Then I wonder what Cook will look like behind a not-so-good O line and with a not-so-good O line coach along with a new OC who would instead call more pass plays

[26TrapDraw]

49 minutes ago, Billzgobowlin said:

He should not have gone public and shouldn't have set the bar that high.  I'm guessing Beane says prove you are worth 15 million a year next year.  He needs to be a difference maker on offense and he's not there yet.

He handled this wrong for sure but to say he wasn't a " difference maker" on offense last year is asinine.

[Mikie2times]

42 minutes ago, Returntoglory said:

 

Do you put Cook in there class? 

Is he in Jonathan Taylors class? Taylor demanded a trade, held out, did everything other than punch the owner in the mouth and walked away with 14 million per year. 

 

Perhaps not....

 

How about Josh Jacobs, who would not get paid by the Raiders, left via FA and now makes 12 million per year? Aaron Jones level, 10 million?

 

These deals were done last year, with less cap and more age on all these guys. If I'm Cook, 15 is the number. He's younger, the cap is bigger, that's the going rate. I'm certainly not going to take a team friendly deal on a contract that has me in the 8-10 million range, which will arguably be underpaid as a top 5 RB in very short amount of time.

 

Now would I pay it? No. But this talk about him not doing it the right way is dumb. Somebody will pay him that money if he still has his health after this season. So be it if it's not us. 

 

 

[ProcessTruster]

2 hours ago, BuffaloMatt said:

Good. I suspect after the 1st six games or so this coming season depending on early performance a deal gets done. If not, tag him. Blame the CBA not me. 

something like that, yep...  Cook needs to hedge that he doesn't get that little body racked up.   Should be an interesting watch during the season.   

 

Not sure at all that they'll tag him as that would be between $15 and $20m straight against the 2026 cap ... I'd be surprised if Beane does that... 

[Returntoglory]

2 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

What am I assuming exactly? That Beane wasn't going to pay him what he wanted? That isn't a stretch. That this will work out just fine for Cook? Again, not a stretch. That Cook is posturing? Again, not a stretch. Vs the bulk of the board saying Cook is money hungry, selfish, and not a team player as a result of this, are they not "assuming" as much or more than I am with such an outlook?

Nonetheless.  They are assumptions. 

[BuffaloRebound]

Maybe Dallas swaps their 1st for ours if Jeanty gets taken before pick 12.  Cowboys are desperate for a big splash.  Bills get a stud on defense at pick 12 and draft Cooks replacement with one of our 2nd rounders.  

[HurlyBurly51]

I stopped worrying about public contract negotiations a long time ago, and that allows me the time to come on here and B word about our punter situation😅

[Thrivefourfive]

6 hours ago, Logic said:

It would be far more accurate to say "Bills GM says contract with Cook not likely before NFL draft", but where are the clicks in that?

This is a great lesson in how the way that you word a headline can make the news contained within seem much more loaded and nefarious sounding than it really was, even if it's technically accurate.

 

Bingo. Or, Beane concentrates on upcoming draft; will get back to Cook after — Not interesting in carrying on at the moment 

[US Egg]

Regardless of what happens with Cook, Beane’s done a great job this off season.

[Niagara Dude]

7 hours ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

^^^^^

This guy gets it.

100%,  Cook is a good back but not a 3 down back. Bills need to invest more resources /capital into receiver position not rb. Trade for a 3rd or 4th and draft his replacement. Cook has one of the lowest usage rates in the NFL for starting fb's and he has to come off the field on 3rd down.  He put up some good numbers but not elite and look what happened to his brother right after he got paid

[GolfandBills]

Cook isn’t getting 15 million a year from any team.  He went about this the wrong way from the start.  

Edited yesterday at 07:21 AM by GolfandBills

[BillsFanForever19]

22 hours ago, Joe Marino said:

And don’t pretend the Bills won’t curtail his reps. It only makes sense to get Davis and Johnson more involved! Not gonna be a fun season for Jimbo…

 

Why?

When the season starts and if he's here Week 1, why wouldn't we use him the exact same way we used him last year?

 

James Cook carried us through the Ravens game and kept us alive in the second half of the Chiefs game in the Playoffs. He's our best Running Back. Whatever happens after the season happens. There's a good chance he won't be here. But while we have him and while he's trying to get paid, you use him as much as you can.

 

You don't bite off your nose to spite your face. What you're suggesting is emotional fan nonsense. 

 

21 hours ago, Beast said:

I try to deal him at or before the draft and get another back this draft. Allegedly this is a deep RB draft. 

 

You'll get close to nothing on return.

 

RB's get little in return. Players on the last year of their deal get little in return. Players who are publicly asking for top market value get little in return. And on top of all those boxes being checked, as you said, it's a strong RB class. So teams are more likely to just pick a guy that they'll have cheap for 4 seasons. So that would make the offer even less than normal years.

 

For what we'd get in return, it's worth more to have him playing for us in the Playoffs this year. Worry about re-signing him or replacing him next offseason.

Edited 23 hours ago by BillsFanForever19

[CSBill]

3 hours ago, GolfandBills said:

Cook isn’t getting 15 million a year from any team.  He went about this the wrong way from the start.  

 

Well, as others have said, there is always Dallas. It's just the kind of stupid thing Jerry likes to do to draw attention to himself. I will take Parsons or swap first-round (even 2nd round) picks with them.

[SoCal Deek]

One day Cook is going to figure out that foundering on a team with little to no chance of playing meaningful games in December and January isn’t worth the extra cash. You only get one career. In the end, your accomplishments mean way more to you than the pay check.