The New York Jets have placed their non-exclusive franchise tag on running back Breece Hall the club announced prior to Tuesday’s 4pm deadline.
The tag means that Hall can negotiate with other teams and sign an offer sheet, but New York would retain the rights of first refusal to match any deal. Should the Jets turn down the offer to match a potential deal, they would receive two first round draft picks as compensation.
Given the NFL’s shift to running back by committee in recent years, the 2x first rounders would be an exceptionally steep price to pay for another club interested in acquiring the 24 year old. That means that barring a trade, Hall is likely to play on his $14.293M deal in 2026.
The two sides will now have until July 15th to sign a long-term agreement.
This marks the first time that New York has used their franchise tag since the 2021 NFL campaign. 5 years prior they used the tag on safety Marcus Maye who eventually left as a free agent in 2022.
Despite New York’s poor on field play in recent seasons, Hall has accumulated 5,040 scrimmage yards over the last 4 years, ranking 14th across all positions in the NFL during that span. The former second round pick has been touted as a dual threat back, but has been hampered by inconsistent play at the QB position.
Since making his debut back in 2022, New York has cycled through Zach Wilson, Mike White, Joe Flacco, Trevor Siemian, Tim Boyle, Aaron Rodgers, Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor, and Brady Cook under centre. The club has also gone through 3 head coaches and posted a 22-46 record over that span.
As a result, Hall’s camp has made little effort to hide the fact that the former NCAA rushing leader would welcome a change of scenery. According to reports, the team was close to moving him at the 2025 NFL trade deadline, but negotiations stalled between the Jets and Chiefs over compensation.
In the end, it would appear as though the club is planning to lean heavily on Hall in 2026 as both GM Darren Mougey and new offensive coordinator Frank Reich have spoke highly of the veteran back in recent weeks.
New York holds the 2nd overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. And while the team is in desperate need of a franchise QB, most pundits have the team focusing on other areas of need this season, and looking to the vaunted 2027 draft class as the year the club will add a new signal caller.
Photo: Jim Greenhill. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.