The Buffalo Bills are entering the new season with strong momentum, largely thanks to their MVP-caliber quarterback, Josh Allen, leading the charge. With a solid supporting cast in place, the team is hoping this will finally be the year they capture their first-ever Super Bowl title. After repeated playoff losses to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Bills are eager to claim dominance in the AFC.
However, as the 2025 season approaches, one NFL analyst is sounding the alarm over the team’s handling of a key player. In a June 16 Bleacher Report article, Alex Ballentine suggests the Bills may be overlooking one of the most important contributors to their recent success outside of Allen.
Ballentine’s piece, which explores best- and worst-case scenarios for every NFL team, highlights how franchises invest heavily in offense—whether it’s through quarterbacks, offensive lines, or star receivers.
While much of the article is speculative and meant for fun, it offers insight into possible pitfalls. For Buffalo, Ballentine flags a potential James Cook contract dispute as the team’s worst-case scenario. “James Cook had nearly 400 more scrimmage yards than anyone else on the offense,” he noted, emphasizing Cook’s emergence as a valuable dual-threat back and an underrated piece of general manager Brandon Beane’s roster-building success.
Although Cook attended minicamp, Ballentine says tension remains as the running back enters the final year of his rookie deal. He warns that running back contract disputes often turn ugly since these players have a limited time to secure a payday—and the Bills have yet to offer Cook a new contract.
Ballentine ultimately cautions that if Cook’s frustrations boil over into a holdout, Buffalo could lose one of its most important weapons not named Josh Allen.
Buffalo Bills’ Best-Case Scenario
On the flip side, the best-case scenario for the Bills is that Josh Allen gets the support he needs to elevate the offense to an elite level. While Alex Ballentine points out that Allen has already shown he can produce a high-powered offense without a star-studded cast, adding more reliable weapons certainly helps.
“Dalton Kincaid, Khalil Shakir, and Keon Coleman are all still early in their NFL careers,” Ballentine writes. “If each of them can take that next step and become more dependable targets for Allen, the Bills could push to be the league’s top offense across the board.”
