Nobody is safe at One Jets Drive. With Aaron Glenn at the helm, every player on the roster will have to compete at a high level in order to make the roster.
At the owners’ meetings this past week in Palm Beach, Florida, Glenn hinted at the possibility of shifting to a running back by committee style.
“I think, mentally, [Breece Hall] is in a good place, but I would say that we have three running backs on this team that we’re going to utilize as much as possible,” Glenn said. “They’re all big men, they can run, they’re violent, they’re physical.”
According to ESPN‘s Rich Cimini, if Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty is on the board for the Jets at No. 7 overall, they may consider trading Hall and selecting Jeanty. This is all speculation, but Hall enters a contract year, and halfbacks have a tough time earning a payday.
Why would Glenn want to trade Hall and replace him with a player who could be just as good as him when they already have an elite runner?
Since Hall tore his ACL in his rookie season, he hasn’t been the same player. In the seven games he played in 2021 before getting injured, he averaged 5.8 yards per carry, rushed for 463 yards, and scored five total touchdowns. From years two to three, his yards per carry decreased from 4.5 to 4.2, and he lacked the same explosiveness that made him an early second-round pick and a candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year prior to his injury.
Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis had solid seasons a year ago when given the opportunity. On 92 rushing attempts, Allen ran for 334 yards on 3.6 yards per carry and tallied three total touchdowns. Davis, on the other hand, showed his speed while accumulating 174 yards on 30 attempts at 5.8 yards per carry and two total touchdowns.
Allen is that bigger, brawler-type of running back, while Davis offers elite speed and elusiveness. Hall had both of those qualities pre-injury. In Detroit, the Lions had Jahmyr Gibbs, the Davis-type, and David Montgomery, the Allen-type. Since Gibbs entered the league in 2023, the Lions split their carries relatively equally; Gibbs had 432 attempts to Montgomery’s 404.
Hall enters free agency in 2026 in a league where running backs don’t move the Super Bowl needle drastically unless the team acquiring the elite running back has an elite offensive line and quarterback. The position is easily replaceable, which hurts Hall, especially since he’s lost his big-play ability from tearing his ACL.
“So I think once we get a chance to get the players in and see exactly how they operate, I think every player is going to be happy with the way that we go about this offense, and I think he’s going to be one of them.”
Glenn’s job isn’t to give Hall a majority of the carries – it’s to do what’s best for the team and win as many games as possible. Hall might receive the short end of the stick in this scenario.
In addition to Hall, the Jets will have to decide whether to pick up Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, and Jermaine Johnson’s fifth-year option ahead of this upcoming season.
“The to-do list is to keep good young players on the team and add good players, so yeah,” said Jets’ general manager Darren Mougey at the scouting combine, per Cimini, when responding to questions of whether it’s realistic to extend Gardner and Wilson.
Hall might receive the short end of the stick in this scenario.
