Bills, the NFL's Anti-Cowboys, Continue to Sign Their Top Young Talent Early

As exasperated Cowboys fans wait to see if and when a deal for Micah Parsons might finally get done, the Buffalo Bills continue to test the opposite limits of NFL contract strategy, locking up their youngest players as soon as possible.

On Wednesday, the Bills announced a four-year, $48 million extension for running back James Cook. He's the fourth member of their 2022 draft class to sign a new deal this offseason, all of them a year ahead of free agency. Add in an extension for 2021 first-rounder Greg Rousseau, who was to play on his fifth-year extension this fall, and a massive new deal for quarterback Josh Allen, and Buffalo has invested $637 million in extending players who weren't even entering free agency.

It's smart for Buffalo to keep its young core together. The Bills have won five straight division titles, with 11-plus wins and at least one playoff win in every season as well. Their postseason success has been in the shadow of the Chiefs — they've lost to Kansas City to end four of their last five playoff runs — but this keeps them as the closest challengers on the AFC side.

Their aggressive pre-emptive extensions, and trusting that a player's strong performance in his first three seasons is likely to continue, allows them to stay ahead of the ever-increasing market value at all positions. They're an absolute foil to the Cowboys, who waited and waited before re-signing quarterback Dak Prescott and receiver CeeDee Lamb, and continue to wait very publicly on Parsons.

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The four 2022 draft picks who have received extensions should want to sign new deals. Cook, for instance, has made just $4.6 million in three seasons, so the