James Cook Misses 1st Day of Bills' OTAs due to Ongoing Contract Dispute

After a season that saw James Cook increase his career rushing touchdown total fivefold, the Bills running back backed up his words from this offseason about a potential holdout with action (or a lack thereof) – he was the only Bills player missing from the team’s first day of OTAs on Tuesday. On paper, the holdout makes sense: Cook had a career year in his third season as a pro and looked good doing it. But his hyperefficiency didn’t net him anything close to a bell cow role, something he’s insisted upon getting from the Bills going into 2025. Through his career so far, Cook has yet to take on anything close to a clear lion’s share of overall opportunities in Buffalo’s backfield, and as a result, the Bills could be reluctant to give a market-price contract to a running back who was splitting snaps with not only Ray Davis, but also Ty Johnson throughout the 2024 season. This will be a situation to monitor as the offseason grinds on – the closer we get to the regular season without a resolution to the situation, the lower his ADP in drafts will likely dip. Cook is due for touchdown regression in 2025 and landed on our early avoids list at his top-15 ADP in drafts right now, so any plummet in price for the former Georgia Bulldog would be a welcome one.