INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� The New York Jets don’t plan to let running back Breece Hall hit the open market at the start of the league year, while the futures of other top running backs such as Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III and David Montgomery remain more in flux.
Jets general manager Darren Mougey said Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine that the team plans to use either the franchise tag or the transition tag on Hall if the two sides can’t reach a new deal before the tag deadline on March 3.
Hall would be guaranteed a salary of about $14.5 million next season with the franchise tag and about $11.7 million with the transition tag. Another team could sign Hall to an offer sheet with the Jets having five days to match the offer or receive two first-round picks as compensation with a franchise tag or no compensation with a transition tag.
鈥淭he tags are an option,鈥� Mougey said. 鈥淚deally we find a way to get a deal done to keep Breece around. I think I鈥檝e said that for the last year since I got here. Breece is a good player, we want to find a way to keep him around. We鈥檝e been going through that process and are still doing so and we have a week to find out if we can鈥檛 get to an agreement, which way we鈥檒l go.鈥�
Hall was drafted in the second round in 2022. He rushed for a career-high 1,065 yards last season for New York and ranks 12th in the NFL with 2,935 yards rushing the past three seasons.
Only one running back in the NFL is scheduled to make at least $14 million in cash next season with 2024 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley set to be paid $16.75 million from the Philadelphia Eagles.
Walker’s status is more uncertain after he capped his fourth season in the NFL by winning Super Bowl MVP for Seattle when he rushed for 135 yards in the win earlier this month over New England.
Walker is coming off the second 1,000-yard rushing season of his career and averaged 104.3 yards per game rushing in the playoffs when he showed he could carry a heavy load after Zach Charbonnet went down with a season-ending knee injury in the divisional round.
General manager John Schneider declined on Tuesday to answer whether the team would use a tag to keep Walker locked up for 2026.
“We鈥檇 love to have Ken back, we鈥檇 love to have everybody back,鈥� Schneider said. 鈥淏ut he knows this better than anybody, it鈥檚 about our 70, our collective, and what it鈥檚 going to look like. And we鈥檒l have those meetings down here. We鈥檒l start, you know, talking to all the agents and, yeah, we鈥檒l have a better feel of where we鈥檙e going to go toward the end of the week. But, obviously, we鈥檇 love that (having Walker back). When you get something special like that, let鈥檚 run it back.鈥�
Montgomery is still under contract in Detroit through the 2027 season and is owed about $6 million in 2026, but could be on the trade market as Jahmyr Gibbs has emerged as the featured back for the Lions.
Montgomery, who turns 29 in June, is coming off career lows of 158 carries for 716 yards last season as Detroit’s offense revolved more around Gibbs, who is eligible for a contract extension this offseason.
Montgomery had rushed for 1,790 yards and 25 touchdowns his first two seasons with the Lions as the team’s starter but came off the bench in all 17 games last season.
鈥淚鈥檝e been in touch with David鈥檚 agent, his representation,” Lions GM Brad Holmes said. “We love David. He鈥檚 a great player. We鈥檇 love to have him. Kind of want to put last year in the rear view and just move forward. But, obviously, a player has to want to be in a certain place as well. So those conversations are still fluid and we鈥檙e just trying to see how it goes.鈥�
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