Buffalo Bills running back James Cook takes pressure off the NFL's MVP in his quarterback, Josh Allen. After a great season, both individually and as a team, Cook is ready to get the bag.
In an appearance on Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson, Cook got candid when asked about whether he should be the NFL's highest paid running back.
"We're valuable, we're deserving of what we need," Cook said to Sharpe and Johnson about the importance of his position. "We're in the trenches every time. We bang. When it come down to the stretch, you got to run the ball. So it's like, how are we not valuable? The backend of the season, you have to run the ball when it's snowing. ... At the end of the day, it's point blank period. You can see what we do and the position that we play, we play a big part of offenses. Just period."
Cook is slated to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2025 season. Last season, he rushed for 1,009 yards and 16 touchdowns. He had 258 receiving yards and two touchdown grabs as well. He had three touchdown rushes in the Bills' playoff run, too, where Buffalo fell just short of the Super Bowl in a three-point loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game.
For as big a piece Cook is in the Bills' offense, he wants his next contract to reflect that.
"We're deserving of it, like why not?" Cook continued. "We work all our life to get paid, like feed me the big bucks. Why not? I want to go chase the highest of the highs. And I'm going to keep doing it and I'm going to stand on what I stand on. I don't want to feel like a cancer at all because I don't like all that attention. That's not me, honestly. I'm just standing on business man, and what I deserve."
Sharpe asked Cook if he wanted similar money to what Christian McCaffrey received from the San Francisco 49ers, which other top running backs haven't come near. Cook assured that he just wants to get what he deserves. It seems that he is looking for $15 million per year, similar to the range of McCaffrey's deal, after he agreed with a post on X which said he was worth that amount.
— James Cook (@thegreat__4) February 13, 2025
Cook doesn't want contract negotiations to hamper the locker room, he just wants to get what he's worked so hard for.
More of the Latest Around the NFL
This article was originally published on www.si.com as James Cook Makes Bold Claim on Next Bills Contract: 'Feed Me the Big Bucks'.
