INDIANAPOLIS — Breece Hall is not going anywhere.
Jets general manager Darren Mougey said Tuesday that the team will use either the franchise or transition tag on Hall if they are unable to reach an agreement on a long-term contract before next Tuesday’s tag deadline.
“We’ll find a way to keep Breece here if we can’t get a deal done,” Mougey said here at the NFL scouting combine. “The tags are an option. Ideally, we’d find a way to get a deal done and keep Breece around. I think I’ve said that for the last year since I’ve got here. Breece is a good player. We want to find a way to keep him around. We’ve been going through that process and are still doing so. We have a week to find out if we can’t get to an agreement which way we’ll go with that tag.”
The Jets explained what their plan for Breece Hall is this offseason. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The franchise tag is the more commonly used tag. It would be worth an estimated $14.5 million this year. The Jets would receive two first-round picks if Hall signed with another team. The transition tag is less restrictive and cheaper. It will be worth an estimated $11.7 million in 2026. It allows the Jets to match any offer sheet he receives, but if they don’t match they do not receive any compensation.
Hall rushed for a career-high 1,065 yards in 2025, but he seemed unhappy with the team. There was a lot of chatter he was going to be moved at last year’s trade deadline but the Jets held onto him.
Hall will turn 25 this offseason and has played in at least 16 games in the past three seasons after suffering a torn ACL during his rookie season. He has averaged 4.5 yards per carry in his career.
“He’s a playmaker,” Mougey said. “He’s a playmaker and we want to keep playmakers around on both sides of the ball, but he’s a proven playmaker and a good player, a good person, so [we] want to find a way to keep Breece around.”
Hall has seemed unhappy at times with the Jets in recent years, but Mougey believes Hall wants to stay with the Jets.
“I do get the sense that Breece wants to be here,” Mougey said. “We’ve had good conversations throughout the season, after the season, so just finding a way to do that.”
Everyone expects the Jets to move on from QB Justin Fields this offseason, but they don’t appear to be in a rush.
“Justin is on the roster,” Mougey said, “and just like every position, we’re going to evaluate the quarterback position through every landscape, whether that’s trade, on the street, free agency, to see what we can add to the team. But Justin is under contract, glad he’s under contract. We have no trigger date with Justin’s contract, so he’s part of the Jets.”
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The Jets still owe Fields $10 million and he will carry a $13 million dead money charge if they designate him as a post-June 1 cut.
Mougey worked for many years with Raiders GM John Spytek, when both were part of the Broncos front office. Would Mougey call Spytek to ask what it would cost to move up to No. 1 in the draft?
“I talk to Spytek and those guys often, as I do with other teams, talk about moving up, moving back,” Mougey said. “Absolutely, we’ll talk about all those things, but I don’t think that’s happening.
“You can ask Spytek though.”
It sounds like the Jets will pick up the fifth-year option for 2027 on DE Will McDonald, but they have not finalized that decision yet.
“We got time to make that decision, but we feel really good about Will and that being a possibility,” Mougey said.