Breece Hall was in his feels after inking a $45.75 million extension with the Jets on Friday, which allowed him to avoid playing the 2026 season on the franchise tag.
“Cried for the first time since I tore my ACL,” Hall wrote in a post on X on Friday after news of the deal broke, adding a praying hands emoji and and a fingers crossed emoji at the end. “This day really hit different for me man.”
Hall’s long-term deal, which was finalized more than two months before the July 15 deadline, will pay the 24-year-old $29 million in guaranteed money, and he becomes the third-highest paid running back in the NFL — trailing the Eagles’ Saquon Barkley and the 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey — for average money per year.
But back in 2022, the early stage of Hall’s Jets career hit a roadblock when he tore his ACL during an October game against the Broncos, ending a rookie season in which he’d collected 681 total yards and five total touchdowns before the injury.
He worked his way back before the start of the 2023 season, when he collected 127 yards in Week 1 against the Bills — kickstarting a campaign when he finished with 994 rushing yards.
Hall topped 1,000 yards for the first time in 2025, when he rushed for 1,064, but then an offseason filled with uncertainty arrived for the pending free agent.
The Jets franchise tagged Hall in March.
General manager Darren Mougey expressed optimism later that month about Hall — who has been the subject of trade rumors before, especially as the Jets sold last season and traded Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner — and his future with the Jets.
“Things are in a good place and I’m hopeful with Breece,” Mougey told reporters at the time. “Obviously, we’ll get through this draft process. And after the draft kind of shift my focus back there and hopefully get something done with Breece.”
And on Friday, that timeline — just two weeks removed from the draft — came to fruition, ensuring that he’ll remain a focal point of the Gang Green offense alongside Garrett Wilson in 2026 and beyond.
