{"id":661408,"date":"2026-01-07T15:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/661408\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T15:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:18:12","slug":"jets-face-critical-decisions-on-breece-hall-defensive-coordinator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/661408\/","title":{"rendered":"Jets face critical decisions on Breece Hall, defensive coordinator"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The offseason has arrived for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/sports\/nfl\/new-york-jets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Jets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Following one of the franchise\u2019s worst seasons, Gang Green will have several critical decisions to make this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Two of the biggest involve running back <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HallBr03.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Breece Hall<\/a> and the selection of their defensive coordinator.<\/p>\n<p>Hall, who is one of the best players on the roster, is scheduled to test free agency at the start of the NFL\u2019s new league year starts on March 11. During <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/2026\/01\/06\/jets-aaron-glenn-darren-mougey-press-competitive\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Tuesday\u2019s end-of-season press conference<\/a>, Jets general manager Darren Mougey was asked if he wants the fourth-year player back in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBreece is a good player,\u201d Mougey said. \u201cI want as many good players back as we can.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met with Breece yesterday, had a lot of good conversations. So, we\u2019ll go through this process and we\u2019ll see how free agency unfolds, but we want to add good players.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked whether the Jets could contemplate using the franchise or transition tag to retain Hall, Mougey declined to answer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI won\u2019t get into hypotheticals and contracts, or anything like that, but we\u2019ll exhaust all the different options and see where that ends up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In a year in which the Jets offense struggled mightily \u2014 29th in yards (263.6 per game) and points scored (17.6 ppg) \u2014 Hall was one of the few bright spots. He crossed the 1,000-yard threshold for the first time in his career, rushing for 1,065 yards and four touchdowns in 16 games.<\/p>\n<p>Hall became the first Jets running back since Chris Ivory in 2015 to hit the mark.<\/p>\n<p>He sat out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/2026\/01\/04\/jets-drop-season-finale-in-35-8-drubbing-from-bills-backups\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jets\u2019 season finale loss<\/a> to the Bills because of a knee injury.<\/p>\n<p>Since last year\u2019s NFL Draft, there has been speculation about Hall\u2019s future with the team. At the time there were rumors that Hall would welcome a fresh start and a trade. The Jets dealt <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/2025\/11\/04\/jets-trade-star-cornerback-sauce-gardner-colts\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sauce Gardner<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/2025\/11\/04\/jets-quinnen-williams-cowboys-trade-nfl-trade-deadline\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Quinnen Williams<\/a> at the trade deadline, but held onto Hall despite a 1-7 start and being in rebuild mode.<\/p>\n<p>With a new quarterback likely under center in 2026, the Jets will have to weigh whether it\u2019s worth keeping Hall on a long-term deal. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/F\/FielJu00.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Justin Fields<\/a>, whom the Jets signed to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/2025\/03\/10\/qb-justin-fields-agrees-to-two-year-40-million-contract-with-jets\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">two-year, $40 million contract<\/a> last March, is expected to be released this offseason. He was benched after a 2-9 record as starter.<\/p>\n<p>If the Jets let Hall walk in free agency, that would be another offensive starter they would need to replace. In addition to a new QB, the Jets will likely look for multiple receivers and maybe a new left guard, depending on whether they re-sign John Simpson or Alijah Vera-Tucker, who are both scheduled to be free agents.<\/p>\n<p>If the Jets don\u2019t extend Hall to a long-term deal, they could use the franchise or transition tag to keep him from hitting free agency. \u00a0If a player is tagged, they receive a one-year tender.<\/p>\n<p>The franchise tag tender is projected to be $14.1 million for a running back. If the Jets wanted to use the transition tag, that would cost them a projected $11.4 million. The transition tag works similarly to the nonexclusive franchise tag, except it would give the Jets the right to match another team\u2019s offer.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the decision to keep Hall, the Jets are also searching for a new defensive coordinator after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/2025\/12\/15\/jets-fire-defensive-coordinator-steve-wilks-following-embarrassing-loss-to-jaguars\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">firing Steve Wilks<\/a> following a Week 15 loss to the Jaguars. Jets coach Aaron Glenn said he will meet with the staff in the coming days and then begin his evaluation process.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Harris served as the Jets\u2019 interim defensive coordinator for the final three games, but the results were less than ideal. Not only did the Jets lose all three games, but they were outscored 106-24 during that span.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to make sure that whoever the guy that we do have in, that there\u2019s a lot of synergy between me and that coach,\u201d Glenn said about what he\u2019s looking for in a defensive coordinator. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not saying there wasn\u2019t synergy between me and Wilks, it\u2019s just I want to make sure, as I go through this process, that that\u2019s not a step that I don\u2019t miss.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt will be a number of coaches that we will take a look at, and Moug will be a huge part of that because I do respect his opinion and he has a good eye just for talent in general. I want to make sure that it\u2019s collaborative between all of us, and we just want to get the best guy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The offseason has arrived for the Jets. Following one of the franchise\u2019s worst seasons, Gang Green will have&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[1585,487,1469,7,194,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,782],"class_list":{"0":"post-661408","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-aaron-glenn","9":"tag-breece-hall","10":"tag-darren-mougey","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-free-agent","13":"tag-jets","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-jets","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkjets","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-offseason"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115854488844785216","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}