Bills halt contract negotiations with Cook

[MasterStrategist]

11 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Just read this on another site.

 

It sounds agent driven, so there's a lot to take with a grain of salt here, but my gut is telling me Cook is going to end up seeing his usage scaled back even more as Buffalo can (especially early in the year) see what a backfield of Ray Davis/Ty Johnson looks like. This would potentially make Cook tradable at the deadline if the Davis led backfield doesn't have a significant drop off. 

Makes zero sense to scale back Cook.

 

And your reasoning is to trade away our best RB, 18 tds LY, at the deadline for what would likely be a 3rd rd pick at best?  When we will very likely get a 3rd round comp the following year, if he's no signed back.  

 

Zero reason to trade Cook midway thru a year, let alone prior to, unless we get a 2nd.

 

 

[Einstein's Dog]

14 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Just read this on another site.

 

It sounds agent driven, so there's a lot to take with a grain of salt here, but my gut is telling me Cook is going to end up seeing his usage scaled back even more as Buffalo can (especially early in the year) see what a backfield of Ray Davis/Ty Johnson looks like. This would potentially make Cook tradable at the deadline if the Davis led backfield doesn't have a significant drop off. 

A backfield of just Ray Davis/Ty Johnson seems pretty thin.  It's why I think the FO may want to get ahead of this problem and see if they can make something happen during/prior to the draft so that a rookie could be worked in.

[BuffaloBillyG]

12 minutes ago, MasterStrategist said:

Makes zero sense to scale back Cook.

 

And your reasoning is to trade away our best RB, 18 tds LY, at the deadline for what would likely be a 3rd rd pick at best?  When we will very likely get a 3rd round comp the following year, if he's no signed back.  

 

Zero reason to trade Cook midway thru a year, let alone prior to, unless we get a 2nd.

 

 

And 4 rushing TDs in his career prior to that. 

 

Him being phased out of the plan if the Bills feel or Cook is set on this being his final year in Buffalo makes a lot of sense.  Let Davis start to find his groove. 

 

As far as trading him for a 3rd, you said that. Not me. And even if that's the return....better to get a higher 3rd than a comp pick at the end of the round....and that's even if the offer he signs qualifies that high. It may be a 4th.

 

Depending on what the Bills do in FA the following year it may not be anything. Giants and Titans ended up with no comp pick from losing Barkley and Henry respectively. A bird in the hand so to speak. 

9 minutes ago, Einstein's Dog said:

A backfield of just Ray Davis/Ty Johnson seems pretty thin.  It's why I think the FO may want to get ahead of this problem and see if they can make something happen during/prior to the draft so that a rookie could be worked in.

I agree. I'd definitely pick up a RB early day 3 to compete with Gore Jr. Keep the RB pipeline full. If he's there grabbing. Trevor ETN is a guy I like.

[Warriorspikes51]

I still say it makes a lot of sense to draft Henderson and get a pick for Cook

 

Cook & 4th  for a 2nd

 

If Beane doesn’t believe a deal can be reached….a trade should be seriously looked at

Edited Tuesday at 10:31 PM by Warriorspikes51

[Buffalo716]

15 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

I still say it makes a lot of sense to draft Henderson and get a pick for Cook

 

Cook & 4th  for a 2nd

 

If Beane doesn’t believe a deal can be reached….a trade should be seriously looked at

You're not going to get much for him because what you just said 

 

He's literally asking for big contract.. so whatever team trades for him is going to have to give up assets and a big contract

 

That's going to drive down his price substantially 

Edited Tuesday at 10:45 PM by Buffalo716

[BillsFanForever19]

8 hours ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

I still say it makes a lot of sense to draft Henderson and get a pick for Cook

 

Cook & 4th  for a 2nd

 

If Beane doesn’t believe a deal can be reached….a trade should be seriously looked at

 

Why?

 

Reports are he's playing for us this season. No reports yet of any holdout. Even his brother, who is looked at as a negative influence, knew better than to hold out in 2020 even when he threatened to (which to date, James hasn't).

 

Without Cook, we don't beat the Ravens. Without Cook, we wouldn't have stayed alive in the Chiefs game. We don't know if a Rookie is going to give us that. We don't even know that we won't bring him back after this season. We invested a 2nd in him, we should at least get the full Rookie contract out of him.

 

Have him on the roster playing his hardest in the Playoffs trying to get paid. If someone pays him what he's asking, we'll get more in a compensatory pick than his worth this year and we'll have him on the Roster this year.

 

I know it's the time of the season where you get completely manic about trading players for more picks. But it doesn't make sense to give him up and another pick this offseason for a prospect to replace him. You'd have had us trading away Dion Dawkins a couple years ago. You'd have had us trading Spencer Brown last season. If the team listened to you, they'd be trading away anyone of value on a yearly basis over lottery tickets that you get enamored with at this point in the offseason.

 

And Cook and a 4th isn't getting you to where you need to go to grab Henderson anyways. Worry about re-signing him or replacing him next offseason. We have enough to do this year without creating more holes.

Edited Wednesday at 07:25 AM by BillsFanForever19

[Buffalo716]

1 minute ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

Why?

 

Reports are he's playing for us this season. No reports yet of any holdout. Even his brother, who is looked at is a negative influence, didn't hold out in 2020 when he threatened to.

 

Without Cook, we don't beat the Ravens. Without Cook, we wouldn't have stayed alive in the Chiefs game. We don't know if a Rookie is going to give us that. We don't even know that we won't bring him back after this season. We invested a 2nd in him, we should at least get the full Rookie contract out of him.

 

Have him on the roster playing his hardest in the Playoffs trying to get paid. If he someone pays him what he's asking, we'll get more in a compensatory pick than his worth this year and we'll have him on the Roster this year.

 

I know it's the time of the season where you get completely manic about trading players for more picks. You'd have had us trading away Dion Dawkins a couple years ago. But it doesn't make sense to give him up and another pick (don't know that your trade even gets us Henderson anyways) this offseason. Worry about re-signing him or replacing him next offseason. We have enough to do this year without creating more holes.

Yes he's under contract 100% 

 

And he's not threatening a holdout he just wants a big contract 

 

In my opinion you run him into the ground and get a compensation pick next year

[Solomon Grundy]

6 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

Yes he's under contract 100% 

 

And he's not threatening a holdout he just wants a big contract 

 

In my opinion you run him into the ground and get a compensation pick next year

Until he shows up for TC and has a phantom injury. Then we're paying for a guy in street clothes.

[Buffalo716]

2 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

Until he shows up for TC and has a phantom injury. Then we're paying for a guy in street clothes.

That will really hurt his contract with his next team 

 

The bills have world class physicians if he's playing possum.. the bills might not be able to force him to dress but they can spread the word this guy is no bueno 

Edited Tuesday at 10:57 PM by Buffalo716

[BillsFanForever19]

1 minute ago, Solomon Grundy said:

Until he shows up for TC and has a phantom injury. Then we're paying for a guy in street clothes.

 

If he wants to be paid what he wants, that's only going to serve to bring his number down - not up. There's been no reports that he's going to hold out. On the contrary, the last we've heard is "he's playing for the Buffalo Bills this season".

[Returntoglory]

Great post! Oh wait....😉

 

What's the number next year if we slap the franchise tag on him? It must be below 15 million? 

[DrDawkinstein]

22 minutes ago, Returntoglory said:

Great post! Oh wait....😉

 

What's the number next year if we slap the franchise tag on him? It must be below 15 million? 

 

Like $13M. Just re-sign him.

 

edited for accuracy

Edited Tuesday at 11:24 PM by DrDawkinstein

[MasterStrategist]

3 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

And 4 rushing TDs in his career prior to that. 

 

Him being phased out of the plan if the Bills feel or Cook is set on this being his final year in Buffalo makes a lot of sense.  Let Davis start to find his groove. 

 

As far as trading him for a 3rd, you said that. Not me. And even if that's the return....better to get a higher 3rd than a comp pick at the end of the round....and that's even if the offer he signs qualifies that high. It may be a 4th.

 

Depending on what the Bills do in FA the following year it may not be anything. Giants and Titans ended up with no comp pick from losing Barkley and Henry respectively. A bird in the hand so to speak. 

I agree. I'd definitely pick up a RB early day 3 to compete with Gore Jr. Keep the RB pipeline full. If he's there grabbing. Trevor ETN is a guy I like.

Clueless, all i have to say.  Some takes on here not sure what you guys do for a living but stick to the day job.

 

Why would we want to "phase out" our best Rb? You say, so we can let "Davis start to find his groove".

 

How about we play our best players and try to win the SB.  This isn't rocket science, stop trying to overthink a simple concept that Cook is our best RB.  Trying to rationalize past stats/Yada Yada, Cook has simply put in the work in offseasons and raised his level of play in several critical areas.

 

Not sure how any common sense, would suggest to reduce Cooks playing time.  Wow, another level of crazy going on now.

[BuffaloBillyG]

31 minutes ago, MasterStrategist said:

Clueless, all i have to say.  Some takes on here not sure what you guys do for a living but stick to the day job.

 

Why would we want to "phase out" our best Rb? You say, so we can let "Davis start to find his groove".

 

How about we play our best players and try to win the SB.  This isn't rocket science, stop trying to overthink a simple concept that Cook is our best RB.  Trying to rationalize past stats/Yada Yada, Cook has simply put in the work in offseasons and raised his level of play in several critical areas.

 

Not sure how any common sense, would suggest to reduce Cooks playing time.  Wow, another level of crazy going on now.

Clueless is not realizing that teams do this year in and year out. Especially early when they are trying to figure out what they have. 

 

Scaling Cook back early is smart as it will keep him for fresher later in the year. It gives the Bills a chance to evaluate Davis as a lead back. It gives the Bills a chance to see what they have and what they need before making any kind of hard line decisions about Cooks future. You know, a MASTER STRATEGY that teams have used in the past.

 

As for the bolded, it's funny how you used his past stats and it's cool. I say what he did in a larger sample size and can't have that. Would be nice to know if it was a fluke season or this is who he is now before paying him. 

 

Indeed. Don't quit your day job. 

[MasterStrategist]

9 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Clueless is not realizing that teams do this year in and year out. Especially early when they are trying to figure out what they have. 

 

Scaling Cook back early is smart as it will keep him for fresher later in the year. It gives the Bills a chance to evaluate Davis as a lead back. It gives the Bills a chance to see what they have and what they need before making any kind of hard line decisions about Cooks future. You know, a MASTER STRATEGY that teams have used in the past.

 

As for the bolded, it's funny how you used his past stats and it's cool. I say what he did in a larger sample size and can't have that. Would be nice to know if it was a fluke season or this is who he is now before paying him. 

 

Indeed. Don't quit your day job. 

Still not getting the point of scaling back Cook.  And what you're saying is a mix of "let's see what we have in Ray" and "let's keep Cook fresh for later in season".

 

News flash: preseason is there for a reason (check off the Ray box).  And Cook is already on a lighter load, and you're main point is to scale that back even further?  Again, clueless.

 

Ill let you have the last comment if you want it, because trying to talk common sense with you just isnt working.

 

And I won't quit my day job, it simply makes too much

[Doc Brown]

On 4/7/2025 at 8:01 PM, alg said:

Actually it's not IMO.

The most important thing for Cook, if he's on the Bills without a new contract, is to stay healthy.

 

That may not mean he literally sits for a hangnail, but it does mean he will not sell out for performance at the expense of damage.

Saying that he's not going to go all out to protect himself from injury would not be in his best interest since he wants a huge payday after the season.  Cook really impressed me last year with his excellent vision and his physicality to run over defenders on his way to the end zone which I didn't think he had in him.  The two Chiefs games and the Seahawks game he looked like a running back possessed.  My heart says he's earned a big contract extension but my head vehemently disagrees with my heart in that you shouldn't give an above average player at the running back position elite money.  Especially if the RB isn't a bellcow back.  My guess is he'll play well next year and then sign elsewhere and we'll get a 4th or 5th round comp pick for him.

[Returntoglory]

9 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

Saying that he's not going to go all out to protect himself from injury would not be in his best interest since he wants a huge payday after the season.  Cook really impressed me last year with his excellent vision and his physicality to run over defenders on his way to the end zone which I didn't think he had in him.  The two Chiefs games and the Seahawks game he looked like a running back possessed.  My heart says he's earned a big contract extension but my head vehemently disagrees with my heart in that you shouldn't give an above average player at the running back position elite money.  Especially if the RB isn't a bellcow back.  My guess is he'll play well next year and then sign elsewhere and we'll get a 4th or 5th round comp pick for him.

Agreed! 

[billsfan89]

On 4/8/2025 at 5:26 PM, MasterStrategist said:

Makes zero sense to scale back Cook.

 

And your reasoning is to trade away our best RB, 18 tds LY, at the deadline for what would likely be a 3rd rd pick at best?  When we will very likely get a 3rd round comp the following year, if he's no signed back.  

 

Zero reason to trade Cook midway thru a year, let alone prior to, unless we get a 2nd.

 

 

 

Fully agree, run Cook into the ground (as in use him as much as you want to reasonably so) for 2025 and then let him walk in free agency if he gets a good offer you can get a comp pick and draft a RB to pair with Ty/Davis. But for 2025 when you are in a Super Bowl or bust season use all the weapons you have, no need to lower your production at RB for 2026 purposes. Especially because RB while not as "plug and play" as people make it seem is a position where rookies have come in and produced fairly regularly. 

[Dr.Sack]

Cook is worth more to us than off the team in 2025. Let him walk in 2026 if he’s unwilling to sign. Get a comp pick in 2027 draft. 

[Warriorspikes51]

50% chance of trade.  If you get a 2nd for him even if you include a 5th or 4th, send it

 

he’s gone next year. His value won’t be higher