The Dallas Cowboys fascinate me heading into this season. Although they may not be a team many prognosticators are high on, I think they may impress and potentially catch some teams by surprise with the nature of their offense. Frankly, they need to do just that for first-time head coach Brian Schottenheimer to get a second season at the helm of America's Team.
Unfortunately, The Son of Martyball (run, run, pass, punt) may not have the bell-cow back he needs to make his late father proud looking happily down from above. This is why there is a non-zero chance the Cowboys do something wacky and trade for a star running back in the early part of August. Could James Cook of the Super Bowl-contending Buffalo Bills become available? Maybe!
Here is an idea of what the Cowboys would have to give up to land Cook in a big trade with Buffalo.
Rumor has it that Cook wants Jonathan Taylor money. The Indianapolis Colts' star running back has a cap hit of over $15 million. Cook stands to be a $5.7 million cap hit for the 2025 NFL season. Since he is in the final year of his rookie contract out of Georgia, an immediate extension shall be necessary to make a deal happen. By trading to future day-two picks, $12 million in assets goes the Bills' way here.
It should be noted that Dianna Russini of The Athletic does not think the Bills and Cook are that far off.
I don't get the sense the gap in negotiations between James Cook and the Bills is as large as other notable hold-ins around the league.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) August 5, 2025
Cook's decision to sit out Bills practices is designed to get this deal across the finish line. We'll see if the two sides can come to an… pic.twitter.com/xhV9Mr7AbA
I do not expect a deal to manifest, but it just goes to show how easily a star like Cook can be moved.
James Cook could be the ideal piece in the Dallas Cowboys backfield
If the Cowboys are going to do much of anything this season, it starts and ends with their offense being balanced and the entire team playing complementary football. I would argue that the team's biggest strength is its passing game. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb are known commodities. Adding a motivated George Pickens into the equation certainly intrigues me.
Cook would slot in by giving the Cowboys the high-end back they simply do not have right now. Cook could be a close approximation to what they had with Ezekiel Elliott during his prime. At the very least, Cook would be an upgrade over the last quality running back they had in Tony Pollard two years ago. Adding Cook makes the Cowboys better and would hurt the Bills considerably.
Overall, I do not think a trade happens between these two parties for three reasons. One, Russini's intel says the Bills and Cook are not that far off in their negotiations. Two, the Cowboys still have bad juju all over them from the Micah Parsons debacle. Anything they do besides re-sign him runs counter to that notion. And three, Buffalo has to take advantage of its Super Bowl window still being open.
If the Bills were noticeably trending down in their stage of the competitive life cycle, I could see a deal.