New York Jets running back Breece Hall has been known as one of the better all-around running backs in the league since he was drafted in 2022.

The Jets need to be in the business of retaining their top talent, not letting them walk in free agency. However, it can never be that straightforward.

It’s far more strategic than simply throwing money at players, thanks to the nature of the hard salary cap. New York knows it needs to balance the need for a quality running back with other, more pressing roster needs.

Even with plenty of cap space to work with this offseason, the Jets aren’t guaranteed to bring back Hall for 2026, and there’s a key reason why.

Hall’s future with the Jets

With the league announcing an increase of over $20 million in the salary cap, the Jets are projected to have close to $75 million in space this offseason. That may seem like a lot — and plenty to give Hall the kind of long-term deal he’s looking for (or even putting the franchise tag on him) — but Jets fans need to realize that the cap space may not be as large as people project.

For starters, New York needs a new quarterback. The dream of drafting a top-10 starter is close to dead. Therefore, the team must pursue the position in the free-agent or trade market.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, Green Bay Packers signal-caller Malik Willis, and even Las Vegas Raiders signal-caller Geno Smith should all be in consideration.

Any of those three will cost a lot of money.

Murray carries a cap hit of over $52 million next season and $43 million in 2027. Willis has a contract projection of over $35 million, according to Spotrac. Smith has a cap hit of just $26 million this year, but is the lesser of all options after a down year with the Raiders.

In short, if the Jets are going to add a quarterback this year (and they will), it will arguably cost them over half of their cap space heading into 2026.

The entire depth chart

Plus, they’ll need to leave resources for free agency and re-signings.

New York still needs to rebuild its defense and find a quality second receiving option out wide. That could be an additional third of the cap space going to offseason improvements.

The Jets may not have enough money to spend over $14 million on an extension for Hall based on those cap projections. This will especially be true if the team is looking to re-sign one of their top offensive guards, the oft-injured Alijah Vera-Tucker or veteran John Simpson.

Hall remains a great player. He’s coming off a 1,000-yard season and is one of the few talents on this roster who is good enough to be retained in the first place.

But with so many other positions in need of upgrades, re-signing a running back may not be the kind of roster value the New York Jets need to make at this point in their rebuild.

In other words, while the available cap space makes it feel easy to get done, Breece Hall staying in town is very much up in the air still.