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This is what you call a “win-win” contract.
On May 8, the Jets signed running back Breece Hall to a new contract, a three-year deal, for $45 million, with $29 million guaranteed.
This is a good deal for the team and the player.
The money makes perfect sense for both sides.
There was some concern that the deal given to the Arizona Cardinals’ rookie running back, Jeremiah Love, picked third overall, was going to throw a monkey wrench into negotiations between teams and veteran running backs.
Based on the slotting system in the first round, Love got $53 million guaranteed in his four-year rookie deal.
This wasn’t a case of the Cardinals overpaying a rookie. Not at all. Rookie deals are pretty cut-and-dried based on where you are picked. That is why some rookies chose not to have agents.
Now, you could argue, based on the slotting, it’s not smart to be a running back that high, because that is crazy money for that position, but that is an argument for another day.
The NFL’s leading rusher last year was a second-round pick, Buffalo’s James Cook.
Hall was a second-round pick.
You can wait in the draft on running backs and do just fine, and then you won’t have to break the bank on a high first-round rookie contract for that position.
But it would have been bad business for the Jets to have to follow suit with Hall, after the Love deal, and give out $53 million guaranteed to their star back.
What they did do, though, was more than fair; they gave Hall a little more than what the two other big-ticket free agent running backs got this offseason – Kenneth Walker and Travis Etienne. Walker got $28.7 million guaranteed from Kansas City, and Etienne got $28 million guaranteed from New Orleans. It’s best not to focus on the overall value of these deals, but more on the guarantee, which is the most important thing in any NFL contract.
So in reality, Hall got a two-year deal for $29 million.
Smart deal. You don’t want to go too long-term on the running back contract due to the injury-prone nature of the position and shorter shelf lives for players at one of the most physically demanding jobs in all of sports.
But they also showed respect for the player, topping the guarantee in the Walker and Etienne deals.
This was the perfect landing spot for a Hall deal.
And while Hall would have had no choice but to play for the Jets this year, even if he didn’t get a long-term deal, due to the franchise tag being placed on him, a Happy Hall is better than a disgruntled Hall.
Not saying he would have dogged playing under the tag, but at that position, where you get hit by multiple players every time you touch the ball, you won’t want a disgruntled player.
Once again, not saying Breece would ever phone it in, but from a sports psychology standpoint, it’s better that this deal was done, so he can just go out there and ball out on every down, and not have negative thoughts about his contract.
And new Jets OC Frank Reich, quite a creative chap, has to be licking his chops at all the different ways he can use this uniquely talented player.
You just don’t see a lot of running backs who are close to 220, who run under 4.4, and have the receiving skills of a top-shelf wideout.
Darren Mougey and his contract negotiators getting this deal done now was great news for the Jets and their fans.
Not only did the Jets get one of their most talented players locked up for 2-3 years (while it’s more like a two-year deal, they do have him under contract in 2028 at a reasonable number), but Glenn, Mougey, and the player will no longer have to address questions from the media about the contract, which can be tedious and a distraction.
May 11, 2026
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