The Buffalo Bills have spent the first two months of the offseason extending notable players on both sides of the ball, locking in key pieces for the long term.
But their starting running back James Cook is not one of those newly paid players, and general manager Brandon Beane indicated Sunday that is not likely to change at this point.
"I love Jimbo, proud of his success, just like these other guys that we got extended," Beane told reporters from the Annual League Meeting. "I don't talk about negotiations, I would say his reps and him did put it out there that we did talk, so I'm not sharing anything new. It didn't lead to anything as far as closing in on a deal, so we moved onto the guys that we were more on the same page with.
"At this point, we're on to the draft, once we got (Christian) Benford done. I don't see us doing any deals anytime soon."
Cook had been vocal both on social media and in interviews about his desire to sign a new deal with the Bills as he enters the final year of his rookie contract, specifically putting the number of $15 million out there as a preferred yearly salary and saying, "Feed me the big bucks."
The current top of the running back market is Saquon Barkley's recent record-shattering extension with the Eagles, which will earn him $20.6 million per year, but most of the rest of the league is far below that number.
Christian McCaffrey set the previous standard with a $19 million per-year average when signed last June, but no other running back has a yearly salary over $14 million, and only six total have deals of $10 million or higher, making $15 million a big ask.
Cook certainly has shown his value to the Bills over the last two seasons, putting together back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing campaigns and earning a Pro Bowl nod in each. This last season, he tied for the league-lead with 16 rushing touchdowns, adding on 258 receiving yards and two TDs through the air.
But it's Cook's workload that might lead to hesitation to shell out the "big bucks." While he was a scoring machine, he finished 20th in the league in carries (207) and 16th in rushing yards (1,009).
$15 million per year would put Cook's pay above bell-cow backs like Derrick Henry, Jonathan Taylor, Bijan Robinson and Josh Jacobs, all of whom finished above him in both categories last season.
With all things considered, including the Bills' cap situation, which has them 30th in the league in terms of space, per Over the Cap, evidently paying Cook's stated price was not in the cards.
For now, joining that upper echelon of running back contracts is not in Cook's immediate future, though Beane said that the lack of an agreement this offseason cycle does not preclude the team from resuming talks next spring in time to avoid Cook hitting the free market.
"Again, just because we don't have James signed today doesn't mean next year we still can't get him done before he gets to free agency," he said.
The two sides have been unable to come to an agreement and it seems negotiations are currently on hold. Assuming nothing changes, all Cook can do now is play through the year and continue to show why he thinks he's worth the money.
