ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Eight days after James Cook started a hold-in amid his contract dispute with the Buffalo Bills -- the first such action during general manager Brandon Beane's tenure -- Cook was simply out on the field with his teammates, in uniform.
Just before his first snap back, coach Sean McDermott gave Cook a fist bump. Cook went on to participate in both individual and team drills, as he normally would. Cameras and eyes followed his every move.
Later that night, around 11 p.m., his four-year extension was done. It was signed the next morning as Cook, a man of few words, began to get emotional as he put his signature on the contract. He wiped his eyes as he finished signing and then put on his sunglasses and wiped his face again before posing. He dapped up Beane and McDermott.
As he ran out to practice, the team gave him a round of applause.
Cook is part of a 2022 draft class that saw four of its eight members -- himself, cornerback Christian Benford, wide receiver Khalil Shakir and linebacker Terrel Bernard -- receive four-year extensions this offseason, as did 2021 first-round pick defensive end Greg Rousseau.
"The guys that came in with me, we all got rewarded," Cook said after signing his deal. "Now it's time for us to go play football and show why we belong here."
The first test is a divisional round rematch with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC).
The Bills began the 2024 offseason by parting with key veterans from their current run of success that includes five straight AFC East titles. These moves paved the way for several 2025 extensions, linking five draft picks to the organization through 2029 -- in addition to rewarding franchise quarterback Josh Allen with his own contract restructuring. As the final year in Buffalo's old Highmark Stadium (or as it's still called by fans: "The Ralph") begins, a new core group rallies around Allen as the team seeks to sustain its success for years to come.
THERE WERE QUESTION marks coming into the 2024 season. Three longtime team captains were cut after 2023 ended and wide receiver Stefon Diggs was traded soon after.
The Bills were going to rely on new leaders and a new offensive room without a traditional No. 1 receiver. They went on to set franchise records in points (525) and touchdowns (65). The team finished 13-4, undefeated at home, and lost in the AFC Championship Game.
"[The personnel moves] last year helped us, I wouldn't say reset, but helped us be able to do some things knowing from a planning standpoint you have to start looking what is down the road and who's coming up," Beane said in March. "And to make sure, if we had not done some of those things last year, would've made it very difficult to definitely keep at least the ones we've kept so far."
The releases and the Diggs trade helped the team to save necessary cap room, upward of $45 million, that it was able to use to plan for the future. The door was opened for players like Shakir, whose targets more than doubled from 2023 (45) to 2024 (100).
The releases also reduced the number of team captains from eight to two, with Bernard representing the defense alongside Allen for the offense; both were reelected this year.
Bernard made that leap after being a backup his rookie year and then missing all of training camp and the preseason before taking over the starting role in 2023.
"[To be someone other players can look to is] what I've been trying to do since I've been here," Bernard said. "So, to have that, set that as an example and to be kind of a point that other guys can look at, it's a big thing for me and I really don't take it lightly."
He and Allen also now serve as an example to younger players of how the organization likes to reward draft picks and players it wants to build around.
"The development from where we got them to where they are previous to the extension has been really fun to watch," McDermott said. "And just reflecting back with some young players ... that I was meeting with, talking about [Bernard], talking about some of these guys who were in their shoes years ago and now they're on their second contracts, and I think it's one of the joys of coaching."
SHAKIR'S WAS THE first major extension signed this offseason, completed during the NFL combine in February. What made him -- a promising slot receiver who led the team in yards, receptions and targets and was third among all wide receivers in yards after catch per reception (7.9) -- want to re-sign without testing the market?
"I'm playing with the best football player in the league -- Josh Allen," Shakir told ESPN.
He added that how the organization is run from top to bottom is important to him: "It's a beautiful thing they have going on here. So, for me, it didn't really matter. I was going to figure out a way to get it done and stay here."
Bernard echoed that getting the highest payday through free agency wasn't his top priority, something that he expressed to his agent ahead of the negotiations. The focus for him was to get the contract done.
"It kind of happened superfast just because I wasn't trying to get anything crazy," Bernard said. "I just wanted to make sure the future was locked down and I was going to be here for a while."
Cook's situation was different. He held firm in his belief that he deserved to be paid like one of the best running backs in the league. After initial talks in the spring around the time his teammates' deals were completed, the Bills and Cook's team were unable to agree to terms, and the Bills decided to table the issue until training camp. Cook's decision to stop practicing after eight practices was "to protect myself and just get things done so I won't be thinking about this and thinking about that, and just play with a clear mind," he said.
Ultimately, he signed a relatively team-friendly deal that puts him seventh in average annual salary ($11.5 million), third in guaranteed salary ($30 million) and second in total value ($46 million) among running backs, but part of what got negotiations going again was Cook's return to the practice field. Less than 24 hours after he stepped on the field in uniform, he was given that long-awaited payday.
"FOUR MORE SUPER Bowls."
That's the significance of the four-year deals the players signed, Benford said, with a joking smile on his face.
Bernard didn't want to make as bold a claim but noted that it is the goal.
The standouts on the Bills start with Allen. Only one other Bill cracked ESPN's list of top 100 players going into the 2025 season -- left tackle Dion Dawkins, who even noted Thursday that the team doesn't have names that "scream off the paper of some A-list celebrity." Buffalo is counting on its recent extension signers, along with top draft picks such as tight end Dalton Kincaid and wide receiver Keon Coleman, to ascend to the next level.
One player garnering attention going into the season is Benford, who has had a very promising camp as the team's No. 1 corner, and could be set for a big season. Tre'Davious White, one of the releases from last year, is back, set to be the No. 2 cornerback when healthy as rookie Maxwell Hairston is out for at least the first four weeks on injured reserve with an LCL sprain.
But both Beane and McDermott have made clear that for the five players extended outside of Allen, continuing to develop is important.
"I don't think any of these players that we extended have hit their ceiling," Beane said. "... We're looking for these guys to continue to ascend as players at their respective positions. But also, you want your locker room, the guys you pay, you want them to be guys that are respected by their teammates and be rewarded."
Cook is coming off the best season of his career by far, having doubled his career touchdowns by scoring 18 in 2024. He would like to improve as a pass catcher and a blocker, but the team will use him as part of a rotation to keep him healthy and get Ty Johnson -- who is trusted on third downs -- and Ray Davis involved. Allen pointed out Cook when asked Wednesday about a player who could have a breakout season.
"Khalil, that's my guy. He's been so good for us the last few years. He's only going to continue to get better," Allen said. "And then Greg and TB, TB is obviously the captain of our defense. ... Him and Greg are both guys that just do everything the right way, from the classroom to the training room, getting work down, hot tub, [cold] tub, they are there at the very beginning of the day, first ones in, last ones out."
Rousseau is coming off a career-high-tying eight sacks but has to show even more to help the defensive line take a step forward. Bernard had fewer splash plays last season (down from 6.5 sacks to one sack, 10 tackles for loss to five), but McDermott noted that he was trying to do a lot coming off a strong 2023 and after being voted captain. Shakir is a good candidate to repeat as the team's leading receiver.
"There's still a runway out in front of these guys to continue to develop," McDermott said. "Good players becoming great, great players becoming elite, right? That's what's left for these guys to do."