This Is Likely James Cook’s LAST Year on the Buffalo Bills…

This Is Likely James Cook’s LAST Year on the Buffalo Bills…

I stumbled across an article earlier today and I think this kind of gives us a good idea or an understanding of what the Buffalo Bills specifically like Shawn McDermott and oh this is weird. Um specifically how Shawn McDermott and Brandon Bean might be thinking about the entire James Cook situation. As many of us know, um, that James Cook contract has been a big piece of the offseason, a big storyline that a lot of Bills Mafia is divided on. Some people are saying we don’t particularly need a high paid running back number one. Some people are saying we need to sign James Cook or our season is completely cooked. This article um from the Buffalo Lowdown powered by fan citided really ended up pointing out a couple of things and I think it kind of gives us a view into the future of how this front office might be looking at everything. And one thing they pointed out was since Shawn McDermott and Brandon Bean have taken over, once they ended up getting rid of Shady McCoy and saving $6 million, a $6 million cap hit leading up into the 2018 season. These are all of the average annual values of running back contracts since then. They had Chris Ivory at $2.75 million. And be honest in the live chat. Who here completely forgot that Chris Ivory was a Buffalo Bill? I certainly did. I certainly did, ladies and gentlemen. But be let me know if you remember that Chris Ivory was once a Buffalo Bill. I certainly forgot. You had Taiwan Jones well under a million. Frank Gore at two. You had TJ Yelden at 1.6. Had Devin Singleary $975,000. Taiwan at 1.75. You had Zack Moss. You had Matt Breida. You had Taiwan Jones. You had James Cook, his rookie season. Taiwan Jones. Had Naim Hines, who ended up signing a 4.5, but then we all remembered when he ended up sort of getting that jet ski injury. Uh 1 million for Tai Johnson, 1.3 for Latavius, same exact thing for Ray Davis, and then same thing with Ty Johnson at 2.5. This year, James Cook is getting paid the largest contract, the second largest contract in the Shawn McDermott and Brandon Bean era, and he’s still on his rookie deal. Since he ended up hitting all of his escalators, he’s due about $5 million as long as he ends up playing each and every single game of the 2025 season. I got to tell you, with this table right here, guys, I don’t think Buffalo is going to do it. I’m not coming out and saying that I don’t think he should be paid. I love James Cook and I think that he’s a big part of our offense and I do think that he is a great asset and I do think that he does deserve to get a quality contract, right? $12 million a year, maybe 13 for the next couple of years by itself. But I gotta tell you, based off of history and based off of the behavior of this front office, I’m having a hard time seeing how the Buffalo Bills are going to completely flip the script and bring a 180 and end up signing James Cook here for a variety of reasons. I don’t think it’s really anything to do with the QB by itself or excuse me, so with James Cook or the running back room, but it has everything to do with Josh Allen. In my opinion, I genuinely believe that Buffalo has no intention of paying a running back an upper echelon contract until Josh Allen starts to show signs of regression in his ability to make plays on the ground. That’s kind of where I’m at these days. And if you think about it, it makes sense because say for example, you have a quarterback that’s averaging 10 plus like rushing touchdowns a year or seven or eight rushing touchdowns a year. He’s putting up about 400 to 500 yards on the ground and then your other running backs are accounting for like 1,000 plus and scraping around 2,000. I just don’t unfortunately see this front office wanting to write that check since what they have been doing has been working at least offensively right because yes we can look back and see how Singleary was a struggle right like back when he was RB1 or back when we had like this rag tag group of a running back room like it or not it’s worked because of the quarterback we had behind center like we always end up making the playoffs yes I understand we end up getting and so our hearts broken by the Kansas City Chiefs each and every single year but unfortunately it works and I’m not saying that this is something I agree with but I’m just saying man like when I look at this table and shout out to Buffalo Lowdown for putting this all together for us because it really tells the story here. I just have a feeling that this is going to be the final year for James Cook being the RB1 for Buffalo. I don’t think that’s a bad thing because he’s going to be playing with a chip on his shoulder and I think he’s going to be playing as an audition for whatever team decides to pay him next year. But like and just based off of the history like this is telling me right now that we’re just going to utilize James Cook for one more year and then revisit the draft in 2026 and maybe get a guy in the uh second and or the third. Like that’s kind of where I’m at. Uh, man, what an man, what a running back room these were. Who forgot that Chris Ivory was a Buffalo Bill? I forgot that Chris Ivory was a Buffalo Bill, ladies and gentlemen. He certainly was. James Cook is why the Bills kept the game close in the AFC Championship game. Go back and watch the highlights. It was the James Cook show, then they went over to Dalton King Cade. Like, look. So, one thing I’m gonna say, right, is I think James Cook should be paid and I would be super happy if, for example, he were to get a contract, but it’s not looking good based off of the history. It’s not looking good. Uh, we have Ryan has come in with a question. So, with no red helmet, are we still confirmed to be wearing a new helmet at any point this season? It sounds like where we’re going with is a white helmet with a silver logo. So whether or not you like that or you do not like that, it sucks. Walter S. And the only name on that list in my opinion that matters by way of example is Hines. Say that he didn’t get injured. We were prepared to pay a running back that had 300 career carries, 4.5 million to be a backup. They value running back. Uh James has come in. Sign Cook to a smaller contract that he wants, but incentives it so he can get closer to what he wants. so many yards, passes caught, blocking improvements to protect Allen, right? Uh once the Chiefs get him with the Everyone will regret it. Herz is young and Barkley ended up getting a bag. So to be honest with you, so the Kansas City Chiefs really have uh so the exact same mentality as well when it comes into running backs, right? like most teams or successful teams for the most part like high-powered offenses have the exact same mentality when it comes into running back, right? It’s exactly why the Cincinnati Bengals walked away from Joe Mixon, right? It’s the exact same reason why Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have had a carousel of different running backs. It’s like yes, I understand that Pacheco is that guy now, but right before him um was Clyde Edwards Hair who ended up having a good season and he was fine and before him was Kareem Hunt. So, it’s not exactly a bad philosophy when it comes into the running back room, especially since so many teams that are regularly compared to the Buffalo Bills sort of follow the exact same model by going up and just leveraging running backs on their rookie deals and then just reloading in the draft after every couple of years. It’s what all of the high-powered offenses that are so amongst so the league’s darlings is when we typically see it. Monkey B.

This Is Likely James Cook’s LAST Year in Buffalo… | Bills Contract Clip from The Don Mafia Report

James Cook’s time with the Buffalo Bills could be coming to a close — and not because of performance issues. In this clip from my live stream The Don Mafia Report, I break down why 2025 is likely his final season in Buffalo. Despite being a key part of the offense, the Bills seem unlikely to offer Cook a second contract due to the NFL’s current stance on running back value and long-term cap priorities.

Why won’t the Bills pay him? Is James Cook getting disrespected? And who could be next up in the backfield?

🔵 In This Clip:

James Cook contract situation explained

Why the Bills likely won’t re-sign him

RB market value across the NFL

Possible replacements in 2026

Impact on Josh Allen and the offense

💬 COMMENT Below: Should the Bills extend James Cook or let him walk?

📺 Subscribe for more Buffalo Bills news, rumors, and game-by-game coverage!

🎙️ Clip from The Don Mafia Report
Hosted by Dan Mitchell | Part of Roundtable Sports

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0015GDUnaRFSdaFmclCw6s?si=cc735bedc4a342c0
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-don-mafia-report-a-buffalo-bills-podcast/id1808767688

ADD ME ON:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realdanmitchell
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/realdanmitchell
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realdanmitchell?lang=en

JOIN THE DON MAFIA: https://bit.ly/2Iw7KYs