Alaina GetzenbergAug 13, 2025, 07:36 AM ET
- Alaina Getzenberg covers the Buffalo Bills for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2021. Alaina was previously a beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer and has also worked for CBS Sports and the Dallas Morning News. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Running back James Cook and the Buffalo Bills have reached agreement on a four-year, $48 million contract extension that includes $30 million guaranteed, his agents, Zac Hiller and Matt Leist of LAA, told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Wednesday.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane said Cook signed his new deal, which links him with the team through 2029, before practice Wednesday morning.
The extension comes a day after Cook returned to Bills practice Tuesday following a hold-in that spanned more than a week, during which the running back missed Buffalo's first preseason game. Cook was in full uniform and fully participated throughout Tuesday's session. He missed four practices during the hold-in, although he did warm up with the team before the preseason game.
"I think we had an understanding that we need to practice if we're gonna be able to get back to the table," Beane said. "And so I think there was good faith on both parts from him and his agent to our side, and once we got him back on the practice field, we really worked hard."
Beane said the deal was completed around 11 p.m. ET Tuesday.
"James could only envision himself as a Buffalo Bill," Hiller said. "We are extremely thankful to the entire Bills organization and glad we could make that happen."
The Bills had maintained throughout the offseason that they wanted to pay Cook, with negotiations beginning early in the offseason, taking a pause ahead of the draft and resuming around training camp. Beane said he was worried about the hold-in being a distraction, but the core of the team understood what the situation was, and the fact that Cook participated in meetings and walkthroughs helped.
Beane also emphasized that "being truthful, being honest, being straight up" on their side and Cook's resulted in good conversations.
Cook is a two-time Pro Bowler and Buffalo's lead running back, but he still had to share the workload. He was on the field for 47.5% of offensive snaps in games he played last year, with Ty Johnson often coming in on late downs and Ray Davis also getting some opportunities.
"We like what [Cook] provides, and we do see him as a three-down-type player and we think he could take more, but we also want to use our other weapons and keep him as fresh as possible," Beane said Wednesday. "We think that's the best utilization of him, and we just look at, I know he gets put in the running back room or guys get put in a tight end room, but it's just trying to find a variety of weapons and skill sets and he's got a skill set that we wanted to maintain and keep with this offense."
A member of a Bills offense that broke records, Cook tied a team record (with O.J. Simpson) with 16 rushing touchdowns in 2024 and was fifth in yards before contact per rush (3.1). He took a significant step forward during the 2024 season, scoring 18 total touchdowns, doubling his total from the previous two seasons.