Hold-In Over: James Cook Signs 4-Year Extension
The James Cook drama has come to an end, less than a month away from the Bills’ season opener vs the Baltimore Ravens, as he and the Buffalo Bills have agreed on a four-year contract extension. I discussed the options Buffalo had back in February when Cook and his brother made headlines with the “15 mill year” comment on Instagram after his brother ruffled feathers with his $20 million a year tweet during the Bills’ playoff win over the Denver Broncos in January.
I never felt that Brandon Beane would come close to either of those numbers, especially with the contracts handed out earlier this offseason that came in below market value and were handled much more discreetly. The contract details came out late yesterday, which made the originally reported numbers slightly inflated, while also making me feel like it was a better deal for the team.
Contract Details
In a previous blog, I stated, “If I’m Brandon Beane, I’m not paying James Cook $15 million a year. A 3-year/$37.5 million deal or a 4-year/$48 million deal is the range they should be negotiating in.” I think the deal signed is good for both sides, and Cook will be 30 years old if he plays out the current contract, giving him a chance at another deal. Cook’s cap hit this year drops by $2.2 million and will be just under $6 million in 2026 before it balloons to $13 million+ over the remaining three years of the deal. It gets a core player under contract for the prime of his career and keeps one of the elite playmakers on the roster. A running back with Cook’s abilities brings this offense to another level that we saw starting to develop throughout last season.
Top 10 Running Back Salaries
Cook’s new deal slots him as the seventh-highest-paid running back in the NFL in terms of AAV. He received a slight bump compared to the contract that fellow 2022 draft mate Kyren Williams signed earlier this month. The big difference Cook has when looking at the top 10 is that he has 750 total touches over his three-year career, including the playoffs. The average of the other nine running backs in the top 10 is 294 touches per season, with three of them at 340 or higher. Would I love Cook to be a three-down back and better at pass protection? Yes, but I am also aware that he has a lot less wear and tear on his body than most lead backs. Again, this deal is a win for the team and Cook, and has me excited to see a player who has developed and improved since being drafted into one of the more explosive running backs in the NFL.
Roster Landscape Moving Forward
This contract extension leads me to believe there will be some roster turnover on the offensive line after this season, possibly sooner. First, this is most likely Connor McGovern’s last season as a Buffalo Bill. I do not see how they will be able to extend or re-sign him as he has outplayed his current contract at a $7.45 million AAV. The second player I anticipate will not be here next year and is a dark horse trade candidate is David Edwards. Moving on from Edwards now would save the team $4 million in 2025 cap space. Trading him is the only move that makes sense if he’s not going to be a Bill in 2025, because he could probably return a late-round pick.
The Bills have young players in the pipeline, Alec Anderson, Tylan Grable, and Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, whom they drafted and developed over the past three seasons, who would be the most logical replacements. Their contracts would be significantly lower than what Edwards or McGovern will fetch on the open market. Buffalo also has to plan on extending O'Cyrus Torrence, who has developed into one of the premier guards in the NFL since being drafted in 2023.
The last player who I think could be impacted by this signing after the 2025 season is Ty Johnson. His cap hit is just over $3 million next year and would save the team over $2 million if released or traded. Johnson has been a valuable player since joining the Bills, and one of the best third-down backs in the NFL. Unfortunately, it may be a role the team views as an area to cut costs, with the development of second-year backs Ray Davis and Frank Gore Jr. being next in line to take over. Go Bills!
