NFL training camp season is officially upon us, which means holdout/hold-in season is too as players seek new contracts.
Bills running back James Cook is one of the most notable, and his situation seems to be devolving by the day. Cook is in the last year of his rookie deal, and the two-time Pro Bowler took to social media in February to indicate he wants to be paid $15 million a year, which would tie him for the third-highest paid back in the NFL. He proceeded to skip voluntary offseason activities but did show up for mandatory minicamp in June.
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A brief timeline since then:
July 22 — Cook reports along with the rest of Buffalo’s full squad
July 23 — Cook practices, and continues to participate for the first eight days of practice through Aug. 1
Aug. 3 — Cook shows up to practice but doesn’t participate for the first time, citing “business”
Aug. 6 — Cook’s hold-in turns into a possible holdout as there’s no sign of him at practice
Aug. 7 — Cook doesn’t show up to practice for a second straight day, despite Bills head coach Sean McDermott saying he expected him to be there
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A couple caveats: McDermott did say Cook has been present for team meetings and walkthroughs this week. Also, while he said he expected Cook to practice Thursday, McDermott said he’d say that about any player available.
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Still, when you need to use preemptive language like that … concerning one of your biggest stars … whose diplomacy in seeking a new contract seems to be backsliding, it’s probably not a great sign.
So Cook’s situation is clearly heating up. What about the other contract standoffs? Are they heating up or cooling off? Let’s break them down.
Buffalo Bills RB James Cook: Heating up
Cook and the Bills seem to be pretty far apart on their valuation of his services, per The Athletic. While Kyren Williams’ deal with the Rams may help guide negotiations, it’s not a guarantee it’ll do much, since Cook is seeking more than the $11 million annual average Williams effectively received. Cook’s agent works for LAA Sports, which just resolved Shemar Stewart’s flap with the Bengals, which was a more difficult situation than this. (We think.) That might be the best thing you can say about this situation at present.
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Dallas Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons: Cooling off
This one’s been pretty hot most of the way, with Jerry Jones throwing shade at Parsons during his meandering season-opening media conference and Parsons later requesting a trade. Since then, Jones has said he’s yet to contact Parsons’ agent about a new deal and is not confident Parsons will return by the season opener, while Parsons has been engaged in practice even though he’s not participating. Then came Thursday, when neither Jones nor Parsons were spotted at the start of practice. Are they finally hashing this out? We’ll see, but for a couple days now this standoff has cooled down a bit.
Cincinnati Bengals pass rusher Trey Hendrickson: Heating up
Bengals legend Anthony Muñoz is publicly calling for the team to sign Hendrickson to an extension. We’re about to see the Bengals defense without Hendrickson in preseason action, too, which might not be pretty. We’ll say that combination heats this one up, since Hendrickson is reportedly still taking issue with the guarantee structure of Cincinnati’s offer, which is “closer to the top of the market,” per SI’s Albert Breer. Hendrickson has been holding in since reporting on July 30.
Washington Commanders WR Terry McLaurin: Cooling off
The gulf between what McLaurin and his team reportedly think he’s worth (north of $30 million per year) and what Washington does (more mid-$20 million per year) appears to be the big holdup here. NFL Network reported teams haven’t exactly been burning the Commanders’ phone lines inquiring about McLaurin, and both sides have been diplomatic. Even if this won’t resolve itself for awhile, it’s not exactly getting hotter yet.
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San Francisco 49ers WR Jauan Jennings: Heating up
Jennings has yet to practice since reportedly aggravating a calf injury on July 27. Is that time missed injury-related, or business-related? “You can ask him that,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said this week. Fellow wide receivers Ricky Pearsall and fourth-round rookie Jordan Watkins are reportedly impressing at camp this week, so even if Jennings is an automatic starter whenever he returns, increased competition might heat up the calculus here.
Green Bay Packers OL Elgton Jenkins: Ice cold
Jenkins is moving from guard to center, and wanted a reworked deal that reflected it. It sounds like he won’t get it before this season, and that Jenkins has made peace with that. There are two years left on his current contract extension, which reportedly includes non-guaranteed base salaries of $11.7 million this season and $18.5 million in 2026. All signs point to zero movement here until after the season.
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