The New York Jets are keeping at least one of their young stars for now.
Running back Breece Hall was not traded before Tuesday’s deadline and will presumably play out his current contract that expires at the end of the season.
It was a different approach from Jets’ defensive stars Quinnen Williams—who was traded to the Dallas Cowboys—and Sauce Gardner—who was sent to the Indianapolis Colts.
Hall reacted to these deals in a since-deleted tweet:
New York linebacker Jermaine Johnson II also shared his thoughts:
ESPN’s Rich Cimini reported in August that Hall would seek a similar contract to those of the Buffalo Bills’ James Cook (four years, $48 million) and the Los Angeles Rams’ Kyren Williams (three years, $33 million) if he played well during the 2025 season.
Yet Hall’s future with the team that selected him in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft was also under the spotlight prior to this development since the 2025 campaign was the final one on his rookie deal.
That spotlight was even brighter in April when Cimini speculated New York might put the 24-year-old on the trade block ahead of the 2025 draft and focus on signing other players.
“Hall is among a handful of players up for a contract extension, most notably cornerback Sauce Gardner and wide receiver Garrett Wilson—both drafted the same year as Hall,” Cimini wrote. “It will be difficult to keep them all long term.
“Hall is a gifted player who would attract interest if dangled in trade talks.”
The Iowa State product seemed to react to such an idea:
NFL insider Josina Anderson also reported ahead of the first round of the 2025 draft that Hall was potentially available in trade talks, although Jets general manager Darren Mougey said shortly after that, “I haven’t had any talks with any teams about Breece Hall,” per Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic.
Head coach Aaron Glenn also told reporters multiple times during the season he didn’t want to trade the running back.
Alas, the Jets decided to keep Hall instead of trading him, potentially signaling a plan to keep the running back beyond this season.
The versatile playmaker seemed well on his way to stardom with 681 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns in his first seven games as a rookie, but his first year was cut short because of a torn ACL. To Hall’s credit, he bounced right back in his second year with 1,585 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns.
He was effective again during his third season in 2024 with 1,359 yards from scrimmage and eight touchdowns, although he did post a career-worst 4.2 yards per carry.
That total was much smaller than the 5.8 yards per carry he posted as a rookie, which led to some questions about his explosiveness moving forward.
He followed that performance with 581 rushing yards, 178 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
The Jets clearly believe in his ability to continue making plays in the future, and Hall figures to remain an integral part of their offense going forward. However, the team will still need to make a decision on the young star in the offseason.