Jets Undecided On RB Breece Hall; Transition Tag Could Be In Play?
Breece Hall looms as one of the top franchise tag candidates for 2026. That option has not been taken off the table by the Jets so far, but others are being weighed as well. 
New York remains undecided on the Hall front at this time, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports. As expected, an extension was not worked out during the regular season, although the team is still interested in retaining its lead running back. A new Hall deal keeping Hall in the fold is one possibility in this case, Fowler confirms.
He adds, however, that the transition tag is seen by some around the league as an expected move on the Jets’ part. Applying the franchise tag to running backs this offseason is projected to cost roughly $14.5MM. The transition tag will check in at a rate of approximately $11.73MM, by contrast. Players who receive the transition tag are free to speak with outside teams and sign an offer sheet; unmatched offer sheets do not result in draft compensation.
As a result, the transition tag is rarely used in the NFL. Whether or not the Jets give serious thought to applying it in Hall’s case will be interesting to monitor. The 24-year-old has managed to remain durable and consistent since suffering an ACL tear during his rookie season. Hall topped 1,300 scrimmage yards for the third consecutive season in 2025, and he surpassed 1,000 on the ground for the first time despite playing on one of the league’s worst offenses.
A payday (relatively speaking, considering the nature of the running back market) should be coming shortly. Hall could wind up being the top back in free agency if the decision-making tandem of general manager Darren Mougey and Aaron Glenn – which was not in place when he was drafted – opts to move in a different direction. A long-term agreement could result in pact averaging $12MM or so per year, but it would give the Jets flexibility with respect to Hall’s cap charges while keeping him at a rate similar to that of the transition tag.
New York is currently fourth in the NFL in projected cap space, so absorbing the one-year cost of a franchise or transition tag would be more feasible for that team than most others. Finding a replacement in the backfield could become a priority for the Jets through either free agency or the draft, but that may not prove necessary depending on how they operate leading up to the tag deadline.
2026 NFL Franchise Tag Candidates
We are now in Year 34 of the franchise tag, a retention tool that came about during the same offseason in which full-fledged free agency spawned. The NFL salary cap is rising at a rate allowing teams to hammer out more extensions than in previous periods. That has helped dilute free agency talent pools. This led to a 2025 landscape in which only two players — Tee Higgins and Trey Smith — received the franchise tag. The cap, which stood at $279.2MM in 2025, is expected to rise beyond $301MM this year.
This year’s free agent class looks to feature only one tag lock, but a handful of players make sense as candidates to be kept off the market. An antiquated NFL system regarding positional classifications also affects this year’s free agency crop, as a couple of high-end UFAs-to-be (Tyler Linderbaum, Devin Lloyd) would likely be kept off the market if the league modernized how it sorted positions with regards to tag prices.
Teams who use the franchise or transition tag have until July 15 to complete an extension; otherwise, negotiations cannot restart until after the 2026 season. The transition tag does not bring any compensation back for an unmatched offer sheet, but the two-first-rounder component associated with a franchise tag has not been especially relevant in ages. Although offer sheets have come out in previous eras (Sean Gilbert and Dan Wilkinson signed unmatched offers in the 1990s), clubs avoid these in fear of an unmatched proposal requiring two first-round picks to be sent to the tagging team.
The tag window opens at 3pm CT today. With clubs having until 3pm CT on March 3 to apply tags, here is who may be cuffed:
Likely tag recipients
George Pickens, WR (Cowboys)
Projected tag cost: $28.82MM
The Cowboys have regularly turned to the tag over the past decade. They cuffed DeMarcus Lawrence in 2018 and ’19 before locking down Dak Prescott in 2020 and ’21. The latter Prescott tag was procedural, as the quarterback used the threat of a lofty second tag number hitting Dallas’ cap sheet as leverage toward a player-friendly extension — one that laid the groundwork for his 2024 player-friendly extension. The Cowboys then kept Dalton Schultz (2022) and Tony Pollard (’23) off the market. After two years without unholstering their tag, the Cowboys appear all set to prevent Pickens from reaching free agency.
Acquiring Pickens in a May 2025 trade with the Steelers — which featured a 2026 third-round pick as the top asset going back to Pittsburgh –Dallas reaped immediate benefits from that swap. Pickens, 24, smashed his career-high receiving mark with 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns. That booked the former second-round pick his first Pro Bowl honor; more impressively, Pickens was named a second-team All-Pro. The mercurial ex-Steeler WR1 was more than 300 receiving yards clear of CeeDee Lamb for the Cowboys’ receiving lead; even though Lamb missed three games, Pickens’ per-game average (84.1) better Lamb’s (76.9).
A tag surfaced on the radar here in mid-November, and momentum has steadily built for Pickens to follow in Dez Bryant‘s footsteps as a Cowboy wideout being kept off the market. It will take a near-Saints-level odyssey for the Cowboys to create sufficient cap space for a Pickens tag and reasonable spending room; they are projected to be more than $30MM (per OverTheCap) north of the 2026 salary ceiling, but enough smoke has emerged here — after Pickens fit the tag profile upon arrival — to make it safe to expect this outcome.
The Steelers shipped out Pickens in part because of reliability concerns, but the 6-foot-3 playmaker outperformed — with a considerable QB upgrade in Prescott — his previous work. With Lamb tied to a $34MM-per-year deal and Prescott on an NFL-record $60MM-AAV extension, the Cowboys are far from certain to extend Pickens. A tag-and-trade play has surfaced as a possibility, but with negotiations not having begun as of early February, expect the Cowboys to use the tag to at least buy themselves more time on their ultra-talented WR2.
On tag radar:
Breece Hall, RB (Jets)
Projected tag cost: $14.54MM
The Chiefs offered a fourth-round pick for Hall at the deadline, but the Jets held onto their starting running back after having asked for at least a third-rounder. Hall denied a report he was seeking a New York exit — after the blockbuster deals involving Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams — but he could have a chance to explore his value on the open market soon. The Jets, however, have spoken highly of the 1,000-yard rusher. The tag has surfaced as a possibility.
Hall, 24, is more than two years younger than Etienne. He will thus command more in free agency. The former second-round pick is also more than three years removed from the ACL tear that sidetracked his rookie season. The Jets waited on a Hall extension, keeping him on his rookie contract while giving Gardner and Garrett Wilson big-ticket deals, but Aaron Glenn has spoken highly of the Iowa State alum.
Gang Green wants to retain Hall. The easiest way for that to happen would be to extend his negotiating window via the tag. A $12MM-per-year offer could await the fifth-year player, making a tag logical. If the Jets were to place the transition tag on Hall, it would cost them a projected $11.73MM. They would receive no compensation in the event of an unmatched offer sheet, thus allowing another team to dictate the contract structure a la the Packers’ Kyle Fuller offer sheet in 2018.
The Jets saw Hall sidekick Braelon Allen miss much of the season, but the former Joe Douglas-era fourth-round pick remains signed through 2027. Allen gives the Jets some protection against a Hall exit, with a mid-round 2027 compensatory pick possible as well. But Hall is a dynamic RB that will be an attractive FA commodity if unattached come March 9. The Jets have a big decision to make over the next two weeks.
Trey Hendrickson, DE (Bengals)
Projected tag cost: $34.8MM
The defensive end tag is projected to come in at $27.32MM, but because Hendrickson was attached to a $29MM salary (following a late-summer raise), he is the rare tag candidate to whom the 120% rule would apply. As PFR’s glossary indicates, “the amount of the one-year offer is determined by a formula that includes the salary cap figures and the non-exclusive franchise salaries at the player’s position for the previous five years. Alternately, the amount of the one-year offer can be 120% of the player’s previous salary, if that amount is greater.” In Hendrickson’s case, it would be.
AFC East Notes: Hall, Hill, Patriots, Bills
It is fairly well known the Jets have wanted to retain Breece Hall. After all, they rejected a Chiefs offer believed to include a fourth-round pick at the deadline. The Jets eyed at least a third, and they retained the four-year starter as he finished his first 1,000-yard rushing season. As the likely top running back set to be available in free agency, Hall could command a salary around $12MM per year. With Aaron Glenn continually speaking highly of the former second-round pick, ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini mentions the franchise tag as a possibility to ensure he stays in New York. The running back tag is expected to cost more than $14MM, per OverTheCap, though precise tag figures are not yet known. The transition tag could also be a possibility, per Cimini. That is expected to come in just south of $12MM, though the Jets would not be entitled to any compensation if Hall signed an offer sheet and departed.
The Jets are projected to hold the fourth-most cap space, so a tag would be a way to ensure Hall does not bolt for a contending team. Rumors ahead of the deadline pointed to the RB wanting to be moved, though he denied he requested a trade. Here is the latest from the AFC East:
- Tyrod Taylor played out a two-year, $12MM Jets contract. After backing up Aaron Rodgers in 2024, Taylor began this season as Justin Fields‘ understudy. The team then turned to Taylor after Fields struggled, but by season’s end, overmatched rookie Brady Cook was taking snaps. A November report indicated the Jets were likely done with Taylor, but Essentiallysports.com’s Tony Pauline indicates the team has interest in re-signing him. If the Jets re-sign Taylor, he would be placed into a third offensive system in three years as the team hires a new OC. That, of course, would not be new for Taylor — a veteran of six teams during a 15-year career. The Jets retaining Taylor would give them some continuity as they search for a new starter.
- The NFL is investigating allegations from Tyreek Hill‘s wife, who has accused the All-Pro wide receiver of domestic abuse over an extended period. The league is reviewing parts of Hill’s deposition in his divorce case with Keeta Vaccaro, the Miami Herald’s Grethel Aguila notes. Vaccaro filed for divorce and alleged eight incidents of domestic violence. Hill is no stranger to such accusations. He was arrested in 2014, pleading guilty to assaulting his girlfriend in college, and was later the subject of an NFL investigation into abuse claims by the same woman — the mother of his oldest children — in 2019. Hill and Vaccaro’s divorce trial is expected to begin in June. Hill, 31, is expected to be a Dolphins cap casualty soon.
- Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore was arrested on a domestic assault charge late last year, and the Boston Globe’s Travis Anderson indicates the sixth-year defender’s arraignment has been pushed back to March. The arraignment was initially scheduled for Tuesday, but Barmore’s lawyer pushed for a delay. This will prevent Barmore from making a court appearance during Super Bowl week. Any suspension for the high-priced D-lineman would likely come before or during the 2026 season.
- Jordan Phillips has enjoyed three stints with the Bills, returning after being released by the Cardinals and Cowboys. Phillips’ third Bills stay came after the Cowboys moved on midway through the 2024 season; he re-signed with Buffalo in August. The veteran defensive tackle spent the past two years in Buffalo and does not want to relocate again if he continues his career. Phillips, 33, is amenable to continuing his career but only wants to do so in Buffalo, ESPN.com’s Alaina Getzenberg tweets.
NFL Injury Updates: Seahawks, Packers, Olave, Hall
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold heads into Week 18 with a game that could cement his team as the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the second season in a row. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, he’s also looking to earn up to $1.5MM in incentives by throwing for at least 150 yards and three touchdowns and raising his passer rating (99.2) to 100. Unfortunately, he’ll be doing so without a few key pieces.
Starting left tackle Charles Cross has missed each of the team’s last two games, and according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times, he’ll be out for Week 18, as well. Backup swing tackle Josh Jones has played well in Cross’ absence these past two weeks and will be relied upon again in a winner-take-all matchup with the 49ers.
Curtis Crabtree of FOX Sports adds on that, although rookie fifth-round receiver Tory Horton is eligible to be activated off injured reserve, he is not expected to play again this season. The shin injury that’s kept him out since early November has likely ended his rookie campaign. Head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters, “The best way I can describe it is just, what he has, it just takes a long time to heal…we’re not planning on having him.”
Here are a few other injury updates from around the NFL:
- Packers head coach Matt LaFleur gave updates on the two defensive backs recently placed on injured reserve earlier this week. Both safety Zayne Anderson and cornerback Nate Hobbs suffered injuries in the team’s home loss to Baltimore. According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, LaFleur told the media that he didn’t anticipate either player being able to return in time for the playoffs, so both players were put on IR to make room on the 53-man roster for players who can contribute in the postseason.
- Saints wide receiver Chris Olave was a surprise scratch for the team’s regular season finale. According to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, a blood clot was detected in Olave’s lung, though it was caught early, “before anything bad could happen,” and the 25-year-old will be fine. ESPN’s Adam Schefter added that Olave has no prior history with blood clots and that the injury should sideline him for about four weeks before he’ll be ready for any offseason activities.
- The Bills are locked into a wild card slot in the playoffs, though their exact seeding is still up in the air. They should have a fairly easy Week 18 matchup against a tanking Jets team, but they’ll be going into it without rookie defensive tackle Deone Walker, per Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN. A fourth-round pick out of Kentucky, Walker has stepped up as a starter for nearly all of his rookie year as Ed Oliver, T.J. Sanders, Jordan Phillips, Larry Ogunjobi, and DaQuan Jones have all missed time at different points of the year.
- Speaking of the tanking Jets, already without quarterback Justin Fields and wide receiver Garrett Wilson, New York has also now ruled out running back Breece Hall, according to Schefter. This means Hall may have already played his final game in a Jets uniform, as the 24-year-old is set to hit free agency at the end of the season. According to Rich Cimini, also of ESPN, the Jets are expected to at least attempt to retain him, but Hall may be tempted to test the market. Cimini doesn’t rule out that franchise/transition tags may enter the picture. With all the absences on offense, the Jets starting group will be led by Brady Cook at quarterback, Khalil Herbert and Kene Nwangwu at running back, and John Metchie III, Adonai Mitchell, and Isaiah Williams at receiver. Per Cimini, starting cornerback Brandon Stephens will miss the Jets’ final game of the season, as well.
- The Ravens have a win-or-go-home game tomorrow night against the division-rival Steelers, but they will be heading into the matchup without wide receiver Rashod Bateman after ruling him out for the weekend. Bateman missed practice all week with illness and will not travel to Pittsburgh.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Breece Hall
With 111 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, the Jets’ Breece Hall was among the NFL’s most productive running backs in Week 17. He was a rare bright spot for the Jets in a 42-10 blowout loss to the Patriots. As a pending free agent, it’s possible a Week 18 matchup in Buffalo will be the last time Hall dons a Jets uniform.
Hall joined the Jets as a second-round pick from Iowa State in 2022. The 5-foot-11, 217-pounder totaled single-digit carries in each of his first three games as a rookie, but the Jets leaned on him more after that.
Hall posted his first career 100-yard rushing game in Week 6. He followed that up with a 62-yard touchdown during a four-carry, 72-yard showing the next week, but he suffered a season-ending ACL tear that day in a win over the Broncos. Hall’s rookie campaign ended with 463 yards on 80 carries – good for a robust 5.8 YPC – and five TDs (four rushing, one receiving) in seven games.
While Hall hasn’t approached the YPC mark he logged in his first season, there haven’t been any durability concerns since then. Hall missed a game in 2024, but he played in all 17 the previous year and is on track for perfect attendance again.
Although his injury sapped him of some explosiveness, Hall still averaged 216 carries, 935 yards and five scores as a rusher from 2023-24. He complemented his output on the ground with prolific pass-catching numbers during that two-year stretch, as he averaged 67 receptions, 537 yards and roughly four TDs per season.
With 36 catches, 350 yards and TD, Hall’s impact as a receiver has dropped this year as part of the league’s worst-ranked passing offense. However, as a runner, he has already set career highs in carries (243) and yards (1,065) heading into the season finale. The 24-year-old is also one rushing TD away from tying a personal-best five.
Regardless of how he performs Sunday, Hall will finish the season as the Jets’ first 1,000-yard rusher since Chris Ivory hit the mark in 2015. It’s especially impressive considering the lack of help around him. The Jets have tried three different quarterbacks – Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor and Brady Cook – but haven’t found anything resembling an answer at the position. They’ll also go a 10th game without No. 1 wide receiver Garrett Wilson on Sunday. Wilson’s knee issues have left Hall as the Jets’ only significant weapon for most of 2025.
Other teams have taken notice of Hall’s success this season, which bodes well as he gears up for a potential trip to the open market. He was popular in trade rumors leading up to the Nov. 4 deadline. The Chiefs, among the teams with interest, reportedly offered a fourth-round pick for Hall. That wasn’t good enough for the Jets, who decided to ride out 2025 with their No. 1 back.
First-year head coach Aaron Glenn wasn’t with New York when the team drafted Hall, but he has made his affinity for the running back known. Glenn and rookie general manager Darren Mougey, both expected to return in 2026, will likely make some attempt to retain Hall. If the two sides can’t come together on a multiyear agreement by early March, the Jets will have the option of keeping Hall from reaching the market unfettered with the franchise tag. They’d have three choices in that case: 1. Keep him for another year at around $14MM; 2. Trade him; 3. Hammer out an extension by the July 15 deadline.
In the event he becomes a free agent and shops himself around the league, Hall’s next deal could check in around $12MM per year, Rich Cimini of ESPN writes. That would match the average annual value the Packers’ Josh Jacobs landed on the four-year, $48MM contract he inked as a free agent in 2024. Jacobs now ranks sixth among RBs in AAV, and he continues to lead the position in total contract value, but the pact only came with $12.5MM in guarantees.
While Jacobs had a better track record then than Hall does now, the salary cap continues to rise. That should boost Hall’s chances of approaching Jacobs’ payday or at least matching or exceeding $10MM per annum. Nine backs are currently raking in eight figures per year. Hall and other soon-to-be free agents in the Jaguars’ Travis Etienne and the Seahawks’ Kenneth Walker may have an opportunity to join the club in the offseason. All have enjoyed strong careers, but it works in Hall’s favor that he’s the youngest of the three.
Jets Want To Retain Breece Hall; RB Expected To Have Strong FA Market
There was plenty of trade speculation surrounding Jets running back Breece Hall in the offseason and before the trade deadline. At one point, it appeared 2025 would be Hall’s last season with Gang Green, but the club’s refusal to deal him for anything less than a third-rounder leads ESPN’s Rich Cimini to believe the Jets want to retain the Iowa State product.
It is not hard to see why. Hall, whose 2023-24 form was not on the same level as his dynamic but injury-shortened rookie campaign in 2022, is looking like his old self. He has maintained a robust 4.8 yards-per-carry rate on 152 totes in 2025, and thanks to his dual-threat capabilities, he is averaging nearly 95 scrimmage yards per game.
As such, a number of personnel evaluators tell ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that the four-year, $48MM contract the Packers authorized for Josh Jacobs in the 2024 offseason is a reasonable comp for Hall (though it should be noted that Jacobs’ pact includes a team-friendly guarantee structure). Cimini believes Hall will indeed be seeking a deal paying him between $10MM-$12MM annually, and given the interest he garnered from other clubs at the deadline, it appears he will have a strong market.
The Jets could, of course, make him off-limits with a franchise tag that is estimated to be worth about $14MM, and New York may be forced to go that route to keep the 24-year-old RB on the roster. Although Hall refuted prior reports suggesting he requested a trade, he neither confirmed nor denied whether he would have welcomed one. In light of the Jets’ ongoing struggles and the trades of Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams that portend a rebuild, Hall may prefer to join a team closer to contention.
New York does have two recent RB draftees under club control for the next two seasons in 2024 fourth-rounder Braelon Allen and 2024 fifth-rounder Isaiah Davis. Allen, currently on injured reserve with a knee injury, has posted a subpar 3.7 YPC rate across 110 rushes at the NFL level, while Davis has shown more juice, with a stellar 5.8 YPC average (albeit on just 52 career carries).
Even with Allen, Davis, and wide receiver Garrett Wilson in the mix, the Jets need all the skill-position help they can get, especially if they have a rookie quarterback lining up under center in 2026.
Jets’ Breece Hall Didn’t Request Trade; Latest On Jermaine Johnson
The Jets grabbed the most headlines in the NFL at the Nov. 4 trade deadline, moving on from star defenders Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams in blockbusters with the Colts and Cowboys. After the departures of Gardner and Williams on Tuesday, a report that running back Breece Hall wanted a trade emerged. Nothing came together, leaving Hall to finish the season with the Jets.
Addressing the rumors earlier this week, Hall said that he did not request a trade, per Brian Costello of the New York Post. At the same time, the 24-year-old neither confirmed nor denied whether he would have welcomed a change of scenery. With his first-ever trip to the open market on the horizon in the offseason, Hall will be able to choose where he plays in 2026. That is, if the Jets don’t slap the franchise tag on him.
While Hall may not have asked out of New York before the deadline, he did think the team would trade him, Armando Salguero of OutKick relays. The Jets reportedly turned down a fourth-round offer from the Chiefs. Gang Green wasn’t going to budge for less than a third-rounder.
Like Hall, Jets edge rusher Jermaine Johnson was popular in the rumor mill leading up to the deadline. Johnson also stayed put, but it wasn’t for lack of interest. The 49ers were among the teams in on Johnson, according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, who reports that one club offered the Jets a third-rounder for him.
It’s unclear if that was San Francisco, but a swap with the 49ers would have reunited Johnson with Robert Saleh. Now the 49ers’ defensive coordinator, Saleh was the Jets’ head coach when they used a first-rounder on Johnson in 2022. He made his lone Pro Bowl under Saleh in 2023.
A deadline day report indicated the Jets had netted at least one second-round offer for Johnson, but Jones’ information clashes with that. The Jets wanted a second-rounder for Johnson, per Jones. General manager Darren Mougey wasn’t going to move Johnson for less. The Jets picked up Johnson’s fifth-year option for 2026 last spring, meaning they’re not in immediate danger of losing him to free agency.
The Jets wouldn’t part with Hall or Johnson before the deadline, but those two will remain fascinating names to watch during the offseason. The team has a few months to re-sign Hall – if that fails, it could tag him – and Johnson is likely to draw trade interest again in 2026.
Chiefs Made Offer For RB Breece Hall; Jets Did Not Budge On Asking Price
Isiah Pacheco is out once again, forcing the Chiefs to lean on 30-year-old Kareem Hunt and seventh-round rookie Brashard Smith. Kansas City was linked to running back trades since August, even though the team believed Pacheco would deliver a strong contract year. Nothing materialized, but it was not for lack of trying.
The Chiefs are believed to have made an offer for the top running back available, with SNY’s Connor Hughes reporting the three-time reigning AFC champions sent a fourth-round proposal to the Jets for Breece Hall. The Jets held out for a third, according to Hughes and ESPN’s Dan Graziano. Only one running back (Tank Bigsby) ended up being traded in-season, and that deal occurred in mid-September.
After the Jets’ explosive deadline, Aaron Glenn said (via Hughes) Hall is “not a guy I want to get rid of.” This, of course, came after Hall made a last-ditch trade request following the Jets’ trades of Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams. But the Jets will now move into position to potentially discuss a second contract for the former second-round pick. They will hold exclusive Hall negotiating rights until the March legal tampering period.
Glenn spoke against a Hall trade before the deadline, and previous reporting pegged the Jets as setting a Day 2 asking price for the contract-year back. The Chiefs backed down on offering what will likely be a late-Day 2 selection, given their success under Andy Reid, and will move forward with Hunt, Smith and eventually Pacheco.
Kansas City has been unable to find a dynamic back since Hunt’s first stint, one that brought an abrupt ending due to the running back being shown kicking a woman on the ground at a Cleveland hotel. That video led to the Chiefs waiving Hunt, and the Patrick Mahomes era has since included low-end investments at the position. While the Chiefs have seen some players make memorable contributions — from Pacheco to Damien Williams to pass-down specialist Jerick McKinnon — they have not had a player on Hall’s level since waiving the younger Hunt version seven years ago.
The team did make efforts here, missing on Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the 2020 first round and then seeing a 2024 Josh Jacobs free agency push fall short. But the AFC power has understandably prioritized higher-value positions, letting the likes of Pacheco (a 2022 seventh-round pick) and low-end free agents (Williams, McKinnon, Hunt 2.0) handle ball-carrying duties.
The Chiefs rank 12th in rushing, but Mahomes’ 285 yards has contributed heavily to that number. Pacheco is not on IR, being deemed week-to-week with an MCL sprain, so it is possible Kansas City will be at full strength coming out of its Week 10 bye. But the Chiefs’ Hall push shows a sense of urgency — but ultimately a price point — with regards to adding a back this season. This also would have been at least a regional homecoming for Hall, who went to high school in Wichita, Kansas.
A fourth-rounder would have been nothing to scoff at regarding a rental trade for the Jets. While Gang Green dealt Gardner and Williams, the team held onto players who drew more pre-deadline rumors — Jermaine Johnson, Quincy Williams, Allen Lazard. The Jets, however, now have more time to evaluate Hall in Tanner Engstrand‘s offense.
Hall, 24, is on pace for his first 1,000-yard season. A report indicated the Jets — who had not shown interest in an extension this year — have seen some in the facility show more interest in signing Hall to a second contract. While the RB market has seen a gradual depression, some high-value deals for stars notwithstanding, Hall’s age and his ACL tear having occurred back in 2022 should give him a reasonably strong market come March.
Jets’ Trade Deadline Aftermath
The two biggest moves of today’s trade deadline saw the Jets send away two former top-four overall picks in defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and cornerback Sauce Gardner. Many are billing the moves as a teardown of the roster en route to a rebuild, and first-year general manager Darren Mougey has put his team in as good a position as possible to stage an epic rebuild. 
Trading Williams and Gardner was not necessarily part of the plan, but according to Brian Costello of the New York Post, the Jets were given “offers they could not refuse.” A crucial part of one of today’s trades actually occurred back 112 days ago, when Gardner signed his four-year, $120.4MM extension. Mougey told the media of the strategies that made his trade possible.
“We had a lot of discussions going through that contract process and some of the details we had to have in that contract because you never know how the future is going to unfold,” Mougey said (via Costello). “We always wanted to be in position to potentially trade these contracts.”
The deals took a lot of talent away from a team that has struggled mightily in 2025, even with those stars, but they also brought incredible potential for team improvement. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport credited Mougey for his willingness to hold out throughout the leadup to the trade deadline. As offers continued to pour in with increasing intensity of interest, Mougey held firm, showing teams that he wouldn’t give up his top-tier assets unless serious offers were made. Mougey told reporters that as “Indianapolis kept getting richer and richer” with the value of their offer, it became too good to pass up.
Altogether, the new draft picks acquired in the trades give New York five first-round picks over the next two years — two in 2026 and three in 2027 — and three second-round picks, not to mention the supplemental additions of former first-round defensive tackle Mazi Smith and former second-round receiver Adonai Mitchell. Additionally, Costello reports that, in exchange for taking on $43MM in dead money this season for the trade, “the Jets are projected to have about $117MM in salary cap space” to utilize in free agency.
They didn’t trade away everyone, though. Obviously, they made it clear wide receiver Garrett Wilson wasn’t going anywhere, but the team tried and failed to find new homes for outside linebacker Jermaine Johnson, running back Breece Hall, and linebacker Quincy Williams before the deadline. Some of the issues keeping these trades from happening came down to Mougey’s demand for value.
Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports reports that the Bears and 49ers made serious attempts to acquire Johnson, but both teams pivoted as New York stood pat on their second-round demand. Fellow FOX Sports reporter Ralph Vacchiano claimed little surprise that the Jets kept Johnson over the second-round offers that reportedly did come their way, pointing to the team having already exercised his fifth-year option as evidence that they were less willing to let him go.
Another factor restricting the options available to deal the remaining players came down to competition. According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, other “AFC East teams reached out to the Jets about potential deals, but New York was reluctant to trade with division rivals.”
Costello points out that, at this point in time, the oldest draft picks remaining on the Jets’ roster hail from the 2021 draft class and only long snapper Thomas Hennessy, the longest-tenured player on the team, dates back before that. The team is full of youth, and Mougey has set up multiple strong avenues with which he can continue to build around the remaining talent. All that’s left to see is whether or not Mougey can do a better job of building a team than his predecessors who put him in this position.
Jets RB Breece Hall Wants Trade
After already swinging two jaw-dropping trades on Tuesday, the Jets are attempting to make yet another move leading up to the 3 p.m. CT deadline, veteran insider Jordan Schultz reports. The Jets previously said goodbye to two defensive cornerstones, cornerback Sauce Gardner and lineman Quinnen Williams, in blockbusters with the Colts and Cowboys.
With Gardner and Williams gone, running back Breece Hall wants a trade, per Schultz . Despite Hall’s wishes, expectations are that the Jets will retain him, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
While Hall is due to reach free agency in the offseason, making him a pure rental for an acquiring club, the Jets are requesting a third-round pick in return, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic. Although contenders like the Chiefs, Chargers, and Patriots have come up as speculative fits for the 24-year-old, no one has met the Jets’ asking price. However, there are offers on the table for Hall, Connor Hughes of SNY relays.
If a Hall trade doesn’t come together, it’s possible the Jets will make an attempt to re-sign the fourth-year man and former second-rounder between now and the offseason. Hall has won over rookie head coach Aaron Glenn, who said in mid-October there were no plans to trade him (there probably weren’t plans to trade Gardner or Williams then either). One of the few bright spots on a 1-7 team, Hall has rushed for 581 yards and two touchdowns on 5.0 YPC this season.
With the Jets seemingly unafraid to part with anyone, Hall will continue to be a name to watch going up to the deadline. The same goes for EDGE rusher Jermaine Johnson, who’s reportedly generating second-round offers.