Jets secure Breece Hall with franchise tag as long-term contract talks continue, per insiders

If you’ve seen the news that the New York Jets are "franchise tagging" star running back Breece Hall, you’re looking at a high-stakes chess move. But what does that actually mean for the team and the player? Here what it means, why this is happening and what comes next.Think of the franchise tag as a "one-year placeholder." In the NFL, when a star player's contract ends, they usually become a free agent and can sign with any team. The franchise tag allows a team to "lock" one player to their roster for one more year, preventing them from leaving.For Breece Hall, this means he isn't going anywhere in 2026. He is officially a Jet for at least one more season.The price of the tag isn't random. It is calculated based on the average of the top salaries at that specific position across the league. Because Hall is a running back, his one-year deal for 2026 is worth approximately $14.3 million.This is a massive "raise" for a single year, but there’s a catch, it is only a one-year guarantee. Most players prefer a long-term contract (4 or 5 years) because it offers more total money and security in case of injury.The Jets' goal is to keep Hall long-term. He is the engine of their offense, coming off a 2025 season where he carried the ball 243 times for over 1,000 yards. However, big contracts are complicated and take time to negotiate.By using the tag today (the NFL’s official deadline), the Jets bought themselves more time. It stops Hall from talking to other teams and ensures he stays in New York while the lawyers and agents keep working on a bigger, multi-year deal.Just because he’s "tagged" doesn't mean the negotiations are over.The Jets consider Breece Hall "untouchable." They’ve used the rules to make sure he stays in green and white while they try to make him one of the highest-paid running backs in football history. As the deadline approaches, fans are eager to see how this whole thing pans out.