The Buffalo Bills are ready to make some noise during the 2025 NFL season. Buffalo fell just short of the Super Bowl in 2024, but they will look to get back there this year. The Bills added several defensive players during the 2025 NFL Draft, which should help them match up against the league’s best offenses. Now they just need to lock up James Cook.

But that is proving much more difficult than they expected. ESPN’s Adam Schefter gave a concerning update on James Cook’s contract negotiations during a recent episode of The Adam Schefter Podcast.

“I don’t think we’ll be seeing him in Buffalo anytime soon,” Schefter declared. “And again the start of training camp will be the next critical moment. If they don’t have a deal done there by then does James Cook show up for training camp? Does he risk the penalties that come along in the collective bargaining agreement if he doesn’t show up? But look we’ve seen the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason reward Saquon Barkley. We’ve seen the Baltimore Ravens reward Derek Henry. We have not seen the Buffalo Bills pay James Cook yet. And James Cook’s a valuable member of that offense but I don’t believe that these two sides are anywhere close to a deal at this point in time.”

Schefter also noted that Cook wants $20 million a year on a new contract. However, he is skeptical that Cook is actually worth that much.

“James Cook is great, he ain’t getting $20 million,” Schefter concluded.

Should the Bills give James Cook a huge contract extension?

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The Bills have a difficult decision to make surrounding James Cook.

If Cook truly does want $20 million per season on a new contract, he may be outside of Buffalo’s price range.

Cook will turn 26 years old during the 2025 season. That does not make him an ancient running back, but it could make Buffalo think twice before shelling out $20 million per season.

In fairness, Cook is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and even had 16 rushing touchdowns in 2024. He also added 258 receiving yards and two more touchdowns.

The Bills are currently projected to be just over the salary cap in 2026. This does not give them much wiggle room to hand out big contracts.

The most likely outcome at this point seems to be Cook leaving Buffalo in free agency in 2026.