The emergence of Buffalo Bills running back James Cook has helped power this Josh Allen-led club into a juggernaut capable of winning next year's Super Bowl.
Allen is now getting paid $55 million per year in anticipation of such an accomplishment. And Cook - who in 2025 will enter a contract year - is insinuating that he's ready for at top-of-the-market deal as well.
For Cook? It seems he wants $15 million per year.
For GM Brandon Beane? It seems like Buffalo is reluctant to go there.
Speaking to Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson not long ago, Cook revealed his contract demands, suggesting he might wish to eventually find the highest bidder on the open market.
"I just feel like we're deserving of it," Cook said. "Like, why not? We work all of our life to get paid. Feed me the big bucks. We want to go chase the highest of the highest and I'm going to keep doing it."
There's no reason to begrudge him that desire.
The league is to some degree shifting back towards acknowledging the importance running back position after a half-decade of usage that would suggest nearly every back is a disposable asset.
Even so, that $15 million mark seems to be a pipe dream. ... especially when we hear GM Beane's response.
"We've definitely had dialogue with those guys," Beane said, speaking on the Fitz and Whit podcast with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Andrew Whitworth, "That's probably as far as I would take it."
But then he added, "We're running tight ... We're getting thin. We've changed stores that we're shopping in."
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is at $19 million and Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is at $12.583 million. Cook can't be blamed for having a high awareness of all of that.
He logged 1,009 yards and a league-leading 16 touchdowns in 2024. He's a do-everything back. But the Bills will surely have to ponder life without Cook, eventually, without compromise.
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"I'm going to stand on what I stand on," Cook said. "And I don't want to feel like a cancer at all. Because I don't like all that attention and all that. That's not me, honestly. I'm just standing on business and what I deserve. That's it. What I deserve."
That "cancer'' reference is a poignant one. Cook is aware of what contract arguments and financial breakups can do to a locker room. He doesn't want that.
He does want what (he thinks) he deserves.
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This story was originally published March 22, 2025 at 3:10 PM.