Buffalo Bills running back James Cook and his contract status make it easy for one analyst to support him. The longer the Buffalo Bills and James Cook continue to be at loggerheads over a proposed new contract, the more nervous Bills Mafia gets about how the offense might roll in 2025.

ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler polled executives, coaches, and others around the NFL anonymously to rank players in each position in his annual offseason polling. In terms of running backs, Cook cracked the top-10. Overall, Cook landed at the No. 8 spot.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/bills as Former All-Pro RB tabs Bills’ James Cook as ‘essential’ in 2025 index. If there is anything Maurice Jones-Drew can assess as an NFL Network analyst, it is the running back position.