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In a press conference after the draft, Jets GM Darren Mougey was asked three questions about the Breece Hall contract talks.
The running back is looking for a long-term deal. The Jets slapped the franchise tag on him this off-season. That doesn’t mean he’s definitely destined to play on the franchise tag this season, but it remains a possibility if the two sides can’t agree on the terms of a long-term deal.
Mougey was asked where things stand in the Hall contract talks, and made it clear they tried to get a long-term deal done, but to no avail.
“I think we made a good attempt to get something done, we weren’t able to, and we’re like, ‘Ok, we’ll use the tag for now, knowing that we have time,'” Mougey said.
Teams and tagged players have until July 15 to get a multi-year extension done, and if they don’t, the player can only play on a one-year tender for the 2026 season.
Mougey said now that the draft is in the review mirror, he’s going to revisit the Hall contract situation.
“Potentially, I mean I got a list of things we got to turn the page from on the Draft and address next week,” Mougey said. “That being one of them. We’ll internally discuss and see where that goes.”
The use of the word “potentially” is interesting.
It almost sounds as if Hall’s camp doesn’t lower their demands, there isn’t a lot to discuss.
“I want to have discussions internally, have discussions with Breece’s party before saying much more,” Mougey said.
Hall is probably looking for a similar deal to Travis Ettienne, the former Jacksonville Jaguar, who signed a 4-year deal for $48 million this offseason with $28 million guaranteed. The key number is $28 million, the guarantee in the contract. That is all the matters in NFL deals. So it’s kind of like a 2-year deal for $28 mllion.
That $28 million guarantee is probably the key number because that is the ballpark the Kenneth Walker guarantee was with the Kansas City Chiefs. Walker got a three-year deal for $43 million with $28.7 guaranteed.
But maybe the Jets don’t want to go that high on the guarantee. Why?
Maybe because Hall has had a little bit of a fumble issue with the Jets.
Ironically, we are talking about that today, after going back over the Jets-Seattle game in 2024 yesterday.
Hall had two fumbles in that game, with the second one perhaps the turning point of the game. After a Jets goalline stand in the third quarter, Hall fumbled on the Jets’ 39-yard line, and the Seahawks proceeded to go on a 10-0 run and win the game 26-21.
Hall said after the game:
“There are no excuses. If I can’t take care of the ball I shouldn’t be in the game. I have to be better, I feel like I lost us the game. I never feel good about that being a competitive person, so like I said, if I can’t take care of the ball I shouldn’t be in the game.”
So while Hall deserves a big-time deal, some might argue it can’t be at the very top of the veteran market because of his 11 fumbles over his first round years in the league.
So maybe something like the Josh Jacobs deal in Green Bay makes more sense, a 4-year deal for $48 million with $12.5 guaranteed.
But it should be pointed out that the deal was signed in 2024.
So since that contract might be a little outdated, perhaps the Jets and Hall can meet in the middle on the guarantee, between the Jacobs deal and the Ettienne/Walker contracts, and they can give Hall $20-21 million guaranteed.
May 5, 2026
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