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The modern NFL news cycle has become a little childish.
Somebody speculates on something, and myriad bloggers act like it’s real news.
Take the Breece Hall trade rumors.
This emanated from something ESPN’s Rich Cimini wrote:
“(Breece) Hall is a gifted player who would attract interest if dangled in trade talks. Perhaps the Jets would consider moving him if Boise State star Ashton Jeanty is available with the seventh pick in the April 24 draft.”
I have no issue with Cimini writing this.
What I have an issue with his how many people blogged about it.
Writers’ speculation should not be news.
Just like how mock drafts aren’t news.
People guessing and speculating is not news.
Now, if Cimini wrote, “I hear the Jets are shopping Breece Hall” that would be news.
And honestly, there is a good chance Jeanty will be there when the Jets pick at 7.
But do you think, with so many needs, the Jets should pick a running back at 7?
Yes, they should pick him if he’s the top player on their board.
You should always stick to your value board, regardless of position – that is why you spend millions on scouting and months stacking the board.
However, it’s hard to believe that if players like Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham or Missouri offensive tackle Armand Membou or Penn State tight end Tyler Warren are available at 7, that Jeanty rating would be much higher than theirs.
So if the rankings are close, there is nothing wrong with breaking the tie by going with a need, and those other three positions – defensive tackle, offensive tackle and tight end are bigger needs.
The only reason a Hall trade might be considered is if there is a messy contract situation, and that is something we don’t know right now.
Hall is on the last year of his rookie contract. Because he was a second-round pick, he doesn’t have a fifth-year team option.
If the team isn’t interested in paying him after the 2025 season, trading him now might make sense.
Hall will make a $3.3 million base salary this year.
You could argue of the Jets 2022 draft bumper crop of Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson and Hall, the running back should be first in line for a new contract because he’s on the last year of his deal, and those other guys will likely all have their fifth-year options picked up, so they are locked in for two more years.
Also, he was playing on a second-round contract, and those other three got first-round deals, so they have banked more money than him.
It’s been very quiet on the contract front with Gardner, Wilson, Johnson and Hall.
It’s unclear whether the new regime is interested in extending any of them this off-season.
The Jets don’t have a lot of cap space, and also, under the team’s former GM, Joe Douglas, they did not want to extend first-round picks after three years. Just ask safety Jamal Adams.
Now people will say that since Douglas is gone, that might change, but it’s hard to believe Douglas was acting on an island with that one, and the Johnsons and Ira Axselrad had nothing to do with that philosophy.
Don’t you think if the Johnsons said to Douglas -“pay Jamal,” they would have paid Jamal?
Most likely.
Obviously, that Douglas philosophy doesn’t pertain to Hall because he was a second-round pick.
Could the Jets trade Hall?
You can’t rule out anything with a new regime, but while people are talking about Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis as potential replacement for him, both are solid players, but neither player is the home-run hitter or receiver that Hall is, and it’s not like the Jets have a ton of difference-makers, so why trade one of them?
April 8, 2025
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