Jets Nearing Decision On Breece Hall Contract Situation

The New York Jets have a decision to make imminently on the contract situation for running back Breece Hall, and it's possible they turn to a seldom-used deal to keep him in the fold.

According to ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler, the Jets are likely to reach a resolution with Hall before Tuesday's deadline to place the franchise tag. The possibility remains that the team and their start back agree to a deal on an extension, but Fowler reports that "overwhelming belief in league circles" is that they will neither reach a new contract nor place the franchise tag, but use the transition tag instead.

Unloike the franchise tag, which locks a player in with his current team, the transition tag is a one-year deal that still allows him to speak with other teams and potentially sign an offer sheet, similar to restricted free agency. The team would then have the option to match or decline the offer sheet. Absent a better deal, the player can then play under the transition tag tender. Over The Cap set the transition tag for running backs at $11.3 million.

Hall is coming off a 16-game season in which he averaged 4.4 yards per carry and topped 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his career. A dynamic pass-catching back in addition to an asset on the ground, Hall has totaled 1,300-plus yards from scrimmage over the past three years.

It may be challenging for Hall to fetch more than $11.3 million for one season. The transition tag would make him the second-highest paid running back in the league behind only Christian McCaffrey--for 2026.

Hall would almost certainly prefer more long-term security, over having to prove himself for another season before getting a new deal. But the Jets are granting him the opportunity to see if a team will give him a multi-year deal, and perhaps he ends up with about the same or more guaranteed money in the end. Either way, this saga is close to being finished.