Bills halt contract negotiations with Cook

[Doc Brown]

1 hour ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

It’s more about not being afraid of this guy hurting us. I don’t want a worn down veteran RB. We barely used cook early on and he’s still young. I don’t want to bring in a vet FA from the outside that has been ridden into the ground but this team will not do that. And also, Cook is thriving in this offense. We are close enough to winning this thing that I’ll sacrifice the stupidity of paying a RB if we win it this year. The money for a RB isn’t going to destroy our cap. It being our own guy that we have seen every snap of usage changes my mindset a bit. He’s our guy. And you definitely aren’t getting value for a RB trade with a contract up. I do not want to trade him. That is dumb. That’s the most important part of why I’m being slightly contradictory 

I get it.  Just having a little fun.  I hate dominoes.  In fact I'm a never eat pizza at dominoes guy.  "Honey, order some dominoes."

[Einstein]

2 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

I get it.  Just having a little fun.  I hate dominoes.  In fact I'm a never eat pizza at dominoes guy.  "Honey, order some dominoes."

It is the absolute worst pizza there is. I don't understand how they are still in business. WHO is ordering freaking Dominos???

[RunTheBall]

This is all posturing on both sides and something will get done. I think a lot of fans still suffer from Post Diggs Drama Syndrome and James hit a raw nerve with his social media BS. Buffalo has all the leverage, and unless James uses his idiot brother Dalvin as his agent, he will understand that. He has an opportunity to get a guaranteed amount of generational wealth now with a team that wants him. Beane isn’t going to lowball him, he’s going to give him a reasonable contract for a very good 2 down back who can’t pass block. Unless James wants to risk playing out the last year of his contract and a potential injury that will cost him 10s of millions, he’ll meet Beane in the middle and sign a reasonable contract.

 

 

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

21 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

I get it.  Just having a little fun.  I hate dominoes.  In fact I'm a never eat pizza at dominoes guy.  "Honey, order some dominoes."

I have spent my whole life saying don’t ever pay running backs but the game is changing a little and I love cook. And honestly part of it is not wanting the distraction. I just want things to go smoothly here so we can finally get one of these.

[mjd1001]

30 minutes ago, Einstein said:

It is the absolute worst pizza there is. I don't understand how they are still in business. WHO is ordering freaking Dominos???

I don't mind it at all.

 

do they put less toppings and cheese on it than many local spots? Sure, but to me it tastes fine.

[Einstein]

10 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

I don't mind it at all.

 

do they put less toppings and cheese on it than many local spots? Sure, but to me it tastes fine.

You either enjoy eating cardboard or don't know what good pizza tastes like.

Please let me help you. Do you live in Western NY? I can give you recommendations to good pizza places.

[Don Otreply]

1 hour ago, H2o said:

This looks like a guy who would make this type of move. 

Ya know, let’s all get our hair cut like this guy, it would be so cool, we would get all the chicks, 

[SoTier]

50 minutes ago, julian said:

Players with piss poor attitudes get paid by other teams, there’s always a team willing to take a chance that a scenery change is all that’s needed… just ask Diggs and the Patriots.

 

Temperamental WRs get paid, especially when they've amassed multiple 1000-yard receiving seasons because they're hard to find and tend to have pretty long effective careers.  They can also be game breakers when paired with good/great QBs, which means that teams need excellent WRs.

 

RBs are not WRs.  Most RBs start declining in their late 20s because of the wear and tear on their bodies.  It's also not the 1990s when teams absolutely needed great RBs.   Cook's also not a great RB like Saquan Barkley or Derrick Henry.   He's not even an every down RB.  It's unlikely that many teams are going to be willing to pay top dollar for a temperamental RB who's not an every down back.

 

I don't think holding out or playing with a crappy attitude is in Cook's best interest if he and the Bills can't come to terms before the season starts.

 

[nosejob]

The Bills won't force him to play out his contract. I don't think that's how they roll. It's either he agrees to a reasonable deal or he's gone and I don't think it matters if it's draft day or August. I'd love to keep him and I'm sure an offer will be made but there will be a limit. IMO he drops too many balls to start making demands.

Edited Saturday at 05:08 PM by nosejob

[PonyBoy]

56 minutes ago, Einstein said:

You either enjoy eating cardboard or don't know what good pizza tastes like.

Please let me help you. Do you live in Western NY? I can give you recommendations to good pizza places.

 

I miss WNY pizza sooo bad....😥

I was a huge fan of Just Pizza 20 years ago. Their Hot/ BBQ wings as well.

Others pizza places too.

 

Dicamillo's bakery, Wegmans, Ted's.

One of the drawbacks of moving around. 

[nosejob]

1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:

I don't mind it at all.

 

do they put less toppings and cheese on it than many local spots? Sure, but to me it tastes fine.

The Mozzarella is better than a lot of other pizzas, at least around me. 

[boater]

1 hour ago, SoTier said:

 

I don't think holding out or playing with a crappy attitude is in Cook's best interest if he and the Bills can't come to terms before the season starts.

 

You and I are in agreement on that.

 

The question is -- what is Cook's agent advising Cook to do? I am not impressed with Cook's agent (Matt Leist of LAA Sports) to this point.  His client is active on social media, that is:

 

-- a poor negotiating tactic

or

-- his client is undisciplined and out of control

 

Neither is good for Cook.

[SoonerBillsFan]

11 minutes ago, boater said:

You and I are in agreement on that.

 

The question is -- what is Cook's agent advising Cook to do? I am not impressed with Cook's agent (Matt Leist of LAA Sports) to this point.  His client is active on social media, that is:

 

-- a poor negotiating tactic

or

-- his client is undisciplined and out of control

 

Neither is good for Cook.

And don't forget the idiot brother.

[Doc Brown]

31 minutes ago, boater said:

You and I are in agreement on that.

 

The question is -- what is Cook's agent advising Cook to do? I am not impressed with Cook's agent (Matt Leist of LAA Sports) to this point.  His client is active on social media, that is:

 

-- a poor negotiating tactic

or

-- his client is undisciplined and out of control

 

Neither is good for Cook.

That's the same agent that screwed a lot of people in fantasy and said Cook would play against the Jets on that MNF game.  I wouldn't be surprised if he suggested Cook be active on social media and put his house up for sale.

[Buffalo716]

4 hours ago, Einstein said:

It is the absolute worst pizza there is. I don't understand how they are still in business. WHO is ordering freaking Dominos???

Domino's has even cut into the  Buffalo mom and pop pizza shops 

 

Because they can offer you two pizzas for $15.. when one pizza at your mom and pop place.. a large is 21 bucks or more 

 

They're winning by strict economics because they have their own supply chain

Edited Saturday at 07:52 PM by Buffalo716

[mjt328]

Hard for Cook to look good here.

 

The Bills have made every effort to re-sign and financially reward their own players, despite being tight against the salary cap.  Just this offseason we've seen extensions for Josh Allen, Khalil Shakir, Greg Rousseau, Terrel Bernard and Christian Benford.  They are not one of those cheap franchises that waits until the last minute, and then locks players up with the franchise tag.  

 

In terms of market value, Cook is RB that isn't the primary 3rd Down back and (despite the touchdown numbers this year) isn't really a short-yardage/goal line guy either. One has to question how much of his value is inflated playing next to Josh Allen and behind one of the NFL's best O-Lines.  Yet he wants to get paid Top 5 at his position. 

 

Going after a team without much cap to spend, his terms really aren't reasonable.  Then instead of just buckling down and vowing a strong contract year... he pulls the cryptic unhappy with his situation nonsense that forced Stefon Diggs off the team.  To me, this just seems like really poor strategy from Cook.  If he keeps this up, he's going to get traded to a bottom-feeder with no QB and terrible blocking, and he's going to watch his career go up in smoke.

 

[3rdand12]

3 hours ago, SoTier said:

 

Temperamental WRs get paid, especially when they've amassed multiple 1000-yard receiving seasons because they're hard to find and tend to have pretty long effective careers.  They can also be game breakers when paired with good/great QBs, which means that teams need excellent WRs.

 

RBs are not WRs.  Most RBs start declining in their late 20s because of the wear and tear on their bodies.  It's also not the 1990s when teams absolutely needed great RBs.   Cook's also not a great RB like Saquan Barkley or Derrick Henry.   He's not even an every down RB.  It's unlikely that many teams are going to be willing to pay top dollar for a temperamental RB who's not an every down back.

 

I don't think holding out or playing with a crappy attitude is in Cook's best interest if he and the Bills can't come to terms before the season starts.

 

No one knows better than the Bills how good this Kid can be in their Offense for another 4-5 deal.

 I sure don't .

I am fine with them giving him a "Prove it " season

If he puts his head down and works ? He will get his money , or stay with the Bills lol

ps hoping for a beastmode season from him

[julian]

4 hours ago, SoTier said:

 

Temperamental WRs get paid, especially when they've amassed multiple 1000-yard receiving seasons because they're hard to find and tend to have pretty long effective careers.  They can also be game breakers when paired with good/great QBs, which means that teams need excellent WRs.

 

RBs are not WRs.  Most RBs start declining in their late 20s because of the wear and tear on their bodies.  It's also not the 1990s when teams absolutely needed great RBs.   Cook's also not a great RB like Saquan Barkley or Derrick Henry.   He's not even an every down RB.  It's unlikely that many teams are going to be willing to pay top dollar for a temperamental RB who's not an every down back.

 

I don't think holding out or playing with a crappy attitude is in Cook's best interest if he and the Bills can't come to terms before the season starts.

 

I agree with all that, I’m on record for wanting a Cook trade last off season, I’m no fan of paying RBs. If Cook doesn’t get paid it will be because of position value and talent level, Not because he’s being disgruntled.

Edited Saturday at 09:36 PM by julian

[Einstein's Dog]

2 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

That's the same agent that screwed a lot of people in fantasy and said Cook would play against the Jets on that MNF game.  I wouldn't be surprised if he suggested Cook be active on social media and put his house up for sale.

 

That has been my fear.  Going one step further it could mean that Cook's team (agent and brother) advised these actions as a plan to get him out of Buffalo. 

 

Unfortunately there could be logic behind that - one is Buffalo has a history of not paying RBs.  Two, Buffalo looks to use Cook as a two down back which would limit his payday.  And third, Cook's 2024 season seems like it might be hard to beat so 2025 may not be viewed as adding to Cook's value.

[SoTier]

5 hours ago, nosejob said:

The Bills won't force him to play out his contract. I don't think that's how they roll. It's either he agrees to a reasonable deal or he's gone and I don't think it matters if it's draft day or August. I'd love to keep him and I'm sure an offer will be made but there will be a limit. IMO he drops too many balls to start making demands.

 

I don't think that it will ever come to the Bills "forcing" Cook to play for them.   He has a valid contract for 2025, and it's in his best interest to play as well as he can.  There is also no deadline for the Bills to extend him until after the 2025 season, so the two sides can keep talking for quite a while.   If they don't come to agreement, the Bills can either franchise him (which would be a nice pay day for Cook) or let him walk.