Jets Expected To Keep HC Aaron Glenn, GM Darren Mougey
There have been a few conflicting reports on Jets head coach Aaron Glenn‘s job security in the past two weeks. A couple of recent updates suggested Glenn’s on shaky ground. Conversely, another indicated he’ll return for a second season in 2026. That will indeed be the case, according to Albert Breer of SI.com. First-year general manager Darren Mougey is also safe, Breer adds.
Jets owner Woody Johnson installed the Mougey-Glenn power structure just under a year ago, hiring the coach before the GM in late January. Moving on from either or both after one season, albeit a dismal campaign in which the team has gone 3-13, would be a questionable look for the organization. That’s especially true with the Jets in the early stages of a full-scale rebuild.
New York took a shot at contending in 2024 with a healthy Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. The club instead sputtered to a 5-12 mark, leading to a regime change and the end of the disappointing Rodgers era. Rodgers and his friend, veteran wide receiver Davante Adams, were among those given their walking papers last offseason.
With Rodgers gone, the Jets took a two-year, $40MM gamble (with $30MM guaranteed) in free agency on former Bears and Steelers signal-caller Justin Fields. That will go down as a miss for Mougey, previously Denver’s assistant GM, and Glenn. The 26-year-old Fields, whom Glenn benched in November, is a surefire release candidate heading into the offseason.
Fields’ inability to nail down the job will put the Jets in the market for a quarterback yet again. Armed with two first-round picks, including the current third overall choice, the Jets could nab one of the draft’s top-ranked passers. That’s assuming they’re high enough on the prospects available.
Mougey acquired the second of his 2026 first-rounders (plus a 2027 first and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell) in a blockbuster trade with the Colts at the Nov. 4 deadline. Despite signing No. 1 cornerback Sauce Gardner to a four-year, $120.4MM extension in July, Mougey shipped him to Indianapolis just under four months later.
Standout defensive tackle Quinnen Williams joined Gardner in exiting at the deadline. Mougey sent him to the Cowboys for a 2026 second-rounder, a 2027 first and defensive tackle Mazi Smith.
The Gardner and Williams deals may pay sizable dividends in the future. For now, the Jets are unquestionably in worse shape. Their defense has allowed between 29 and 48 points in four straight games (all losses). Glenn fired his first D-coordinator, Steve Wilks, on Dec. 15, though the unit hasn’t fared any better in two games under interim DC Chris Harris.
The Jets’ defensive woes don’t reflect well on Glenn, a former NFL cornerback (including with the Jets) who was Detroit’s D-coordinator before New York hired him. Identifying Wilks’ successor will rank among his most important offseason tasks. It’s possible Glenn will make other changes to his staff, Breer relays, though it’s unclear which assistants he could replace.
Although Glenn’s first go-around as a head coach has been a bumpy ride, it appears likely he’ll return for the second season of a five-year contract. Between the Jets’ haul of draft picks and a massive amount of spending room (approximately $91MM, per Over the Cap), he and Mougey will be in prime position to upgrade a hole-filled roster in the offseason.
Jets HC Aaron Glenn’s Status Uncertain?
Week 17 saw the Jets’ disappointing end to the season continue. Attention will soon turn to free agency and the draft for first-year general manager Darren Mougey, but it remains to be seen if Aaron Glenn will be retained for 2026. 
Glenn’s first season as a head coach has not gone according to plan, especially in recent weeks. The Jets are in the midst of a four-game losing streak. Their margin of defeat in those contests has been 24, 28, 23 and 32 points. New York currents sits 30th in the NFL in points allowed despite Glenn’s background as a defensive coordinator.
Of course, the decision to trade away cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams led to a decrease in expectations on that side of the ball for the second half of the campaign. Nevertheless, the Jets’ struggles in that regard led to DC Steve Wilks being fired. Glenn’s job security was viewed as being uncertain at that point, although a more recent report indicated he will remain in place for next season.
The 53-year-old’s job security is still a talking point at this time, however. Outkick’s Armando Salguero writes Glenn is not safe in the wake of his team’s underwhelming finish to the season. Glenn joined New York on a five-year deal following his tenure leading the Lions’ defense. Moving on after just one campaign would thus come as a surprise even with the team sitting at 3-13. Glenn’s latest comments on the matter point to continued support coming from owner Woody Johnson.
“I do know there’s a belief in me,” Glenn said of Johnson (via Salguero). “I do know I believe in him. That’s why I’m glad I took this job, is because of ownership and what he’s about… I’m disappointed. I know he’s disappointed. So, now we’ve got to figure out what we do to make sure that we get over that hump and move forward.”
Improved play in many respects will be required for the Jets to bounce back in 2026. At least one change will take place on the sidelines when Wilks’ full-time replacement is named. Other moves affecting the coaching staff could be made soon, and Glenn’s standing in the organization will remain something to watch closely through the final week of the campaign.
Jets Expected To Retain HC Aaron Glenn
A five-win showing in 2024 led to a shakeup on the Jets’ sideline last offseason. After firing head coach Robert Saleh during the season and finishing the campaign with interim choice Jeff Ulbrich, the team hired Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn as its full-time sideline leader.
The Jets weren’t expected to push for a playoff spot this year, but at 3-11 under Glenn, they’re on a worse pace than last season. There has been some question about Glenn’s job security as a result. He’s not going anywhere, though, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports.
A Glenn firing “was never under consideration,” writes Russini, who adds that agents around the NFL are operating as if the organization will stay the course. The Woody Johnson-owned franchise is exercising patience with Glenn during a rebuild.
Glenn, a former Jets defensive back, rejoined the club just a few days before the late-January hiring of general manager Darren Mougey. They’re now attempting to restore relevance to a franchise that hasn’t qualified for the postseason since 2010.
Knowing the Jets wouldn’t contend in the near term, the new regime made a couple of significant talent-dumping deals ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline. They shipped off their two best defensive players, cornerback Sauce Gardner (Colts) and D-tackle Quinnen Williams (Cowboys). Those swaps netted Glenn and Mougey major assets for the future.
Gardner brought back two first-round picks and second-year wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, who has played better since arriving in New York. The Colts were fighting for the top spot in the AFC at the time. They’ve plummeted from 7-1 to 8-6, though, and are now unlikely to make the playoffs. That’s great news for the Jets.
Williams cost the Cowboys a 2026 second, a 2027 first, and defensive tackle Mazi Smith. Despite going in the first round in 2023, Smith was a bust in Dallas, and he has been a non-factor for the Jets. Even if he doesn’t evolve into a contributor, the picks could prove crucial in a potential turnaround.
With Gardner and Williams gone, the Jets are unsurprisingly worse off in the here and now. Despite the presence of a defensive-minded head coach, that unit has looked especially rough of late. After the Jets yielded a combined 82 points in losses to the Dolphins and Jaguars over the past two weeks, Glenn fired coordinator Steve Wilks on Monday. Glenn will have to decide whether to turn the reins over to pass game coordinator Chris Harris, who’s succeeding Wilks on an interim basis, or choose someone else in the offseason.
Glenn will also have a say in the quarterback position next year. That will be the most important offseason business for the Jets, whose 2026 starter likely isn’t on the roster. The move to sign Justin Fields to a two-year, $40MM contract with $30MM in guarantees last offseason has proven to be a misfire for the team’s new leadership. Fields, whom the Jets benched last month, probably won’t be back next season. Veteran backup Tyrod Taylor is a pending free agent, and it’s unlikely undrafted rookie Brady Cook is the answer.
With the Jets boasting enviable draft capital, including the current fifth and 18th overall picks in 2026, they could welcome a prized rookie passer into the fold next year. Mougey has scouted top QB prospects Fernando Mendoza (Indiana’s Heisman Trophy winner) and Dante Moore (Oregon) in person. Either could wind up playing for Glenn in 2026.
Latest On Jets’ Steve Wilks Firing, Aaron Glenn’s Status
The Jets enjoyed stability on defense for three-plus seasons, having Robert Saleh overseeing Jeff Ulbrich. The unit made tremendous strides in 2022 and remained one of the league’s best in 2023. Woody Johnson went around then-GM Joe Douglas and fired Saleh in October 2024. The Jets’ defense has not regained its form since.
Although the Jets did rank third in total defense under Ulbrich last year, they dropped to 20th in scoring and 21st in EPA per play. No silver lining was present under Steve Wilks, who oversaw the league’s 30th-ranked scoring unit (20th in yardage, 28th in EPA per play) and was fired after Week 15. This marks Wilks’ fifth straight one-and-done stretch in the NFL; overall, the former Panthers and Cardinals HC has not stayed with the same team/college program since his first Panthers stint ended after the 2017 season.
Wilks, 56, ran into internal opposition during his rough Jets stay. Many players viewed Wilks’ scheme as ineffective, according to SNY.tv’s Connor Hughes, who adds one unnamed player questioned Wilks in a meeting. Another player repeatedly questioned his usage and lack of freedom within the scheme.
The Jets struggling defensively after the Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams trades was to be expected, but Wilks’ unit was not doing well before those deadline moves. Wilks’ Jets work has not approached where the 49ers were (third in scoring defense, eighth in yardage) during his one-off with the NFC West club, and the veteran defensive boss’ stock continues to fall.
Wilks, though, worked under a defense-oriented HC. Aaron Glenn certainly deserves blame for the defense’s shape. The Jets have given up 82 points over the past two games — both blowout losses. While Gang Green’s quarterback situation has contributed heavily to those one-sided defeats — to the Dolphins and Jaguars — Glenn’s first year has gone poorly. Given the state of the franchise when the former Jets cornerback took over, a quick turnaround was not exactly expected.
Johnson also strongly endorsed Glenn at the October owners’ meetings, doing so while criticizing then-starter Justin Fields. Still, the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora notes Glenn is “far from assured” to be back for a second season. Considering the heat Johnson took for meddling last year and Glenn signing a five-year contract, it would be quite surprising to see the Jets pull the trigger now. We also heard last month Glenn was safe for 2026, with the rookie HC being involved in the decisions the Jets made at the trade deadline.
This coaching market is not exactly teeming with talent that would inspire confidence an upgrade is in store, with a host of defense-based leaders as the top candidates. The Jets firing Glenn after one season would further depict this as an unstable organization. It should still be expected Glenn returns for 2026, when the team will hold two first-round picks thanks to the Gardner trade. But the heat may be rising already for the former Lions DC.
Jets’ Benching Of QB Justin Fields Seen As Permanent
The Jets’ benching of Justin Fields is “not expected to be temporary,” per ESPN’s Dan Graziano. Barring injury, Tyrod Taylor is slated to start for the rest of the 2025 season, and Fields is likely to leave New York this offseason.
The Jets believe it will be easier to evaluate their young pass-catchers – particularly rookie tight end Mason Taylor and wideouts John Metchie and Adonai Mitchell – with Tyrod Taylor under center. The 36-year-old quarterback is more willing to play within the structure of the offense as opposed to Fields, who is more liable to hold onto the ball, throw a check down to a running back, or take off on a scramble. Though Taylor has three interceptions in 69 attempts compared to Fields’ one in 204 attempts, the Jets are willing to weather the risk of interception in exchange for more opportunities for their skill players.
The team is also planning to find a new quarterback this offseason, whether it be a rookie draft pick or another veteran acquisition. The draft from the Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams trades has given New York enough draft capital to land nearly any available passer in the offseason.
The Jets are also expected to part ways with Fields after the 2025 season concludes. $10MM of his $20MM salary in 2026 is guaranteed; between that and his poor performance, he is unlikely to draw trade interest and will likely be released as a post-June 1 cut. That would save $10MM against the Jets’ 2026 salary cap with a $13MM dead cap charge with another $9MM of dead money in 2027. However, the team has more than $70MM of dead money to account for next year, per OverTheCap, including $35MM from Aaron Rodgers, $11MM from Gardner, and $9.8MM from Williams. The Jets may prefer to push as much dead cap from Fields’ deal into 2027.
They could do so by converting his remaining guaranteed salary into a signing bonus and prorating it across the remainder of his contract. The Jets’ 2026 savings would stay at $10MM, but only $5MM of Fields’ dead money would hit with the remaining $17MM being pushed to 2027. Fields’ deal already has four void years built in, suggesting that the team wanted to have this contract option in case 2025 went poorly, which it did.
The first three void years were used to prorate his signing bonus, while the fourth was left empty in case of a 2026 restructure. Adding a void year to a contract, even for purposes of a restructure, requires player consent, which Fields may not give. Instead, general manager Darren Mougey designed his deal to ensure that the Jets had more flexibility after the 2025 season.
It almost feels like Mougey and new head coach Aaron Glenn saw 2025 as a reset year in New York. They took a chance on Fields without too hefty of a commitment; once it became clear that he was not the Jets’ long-term quarterback, they pivoted to blow up the core of their roster. Now, they have enough draft capital to acquire a quarterback and the opportunity to complete rebuild the Jets from the ground up.
Latest On Sauce Gardner Trade; Jets HC Aaron Glenn’s Job Is Safe
The Jets’ deadline trade sending cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Colts in exchange for a 2026 first-rounder, a 2027 first-rounder, and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell caught many by surprise. However, the foundation for those types of deals is typically laid well in advance of the agreement itself. That is exactly what happened here, as multiple reporters, including Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic (subscription required), detail that the framework of the Gardner deal – and the other swaps New York made – began to take shape in Week 4.
At that time, GM Darren Mougey and his staff began to hold weekly meetings to discuss, among other things, the trade value of each player on the roster. The idea was to avoid recency bias as the November 4 deadline approached and other clubs began making trade offers.
So, although ESPN’s Rich Cimini says the Jets never intended to move Gardner – whom they signed to a four-year, $120.4MM contract extension in July – they did establish what it would take to consider trading him if an offer came in. Per Cimini and Albert Breer of SI.com, that price was indeed two first-rounders and a quality player.
After the Colts’ Week 6 victory over the Cardinals improved their record to 5-1, Breer says Indianapolis’ assistant GM, Ed Dodds, placed calls around the league seeking CB help (Charvarius Ward suffered a concussion prior to the Arizona contest and landed on injured reserve as a result, and rookie Justin Walley sustained a season-ending ACL tear in August). Dodds’ efforts led him to Mougey, who indicated he would listen to offers on anyone on the roster, even if he was not actively looking to trade certain players.
Mougey and Colts GM Chris Ballard then discussed the possibility of a Gardner trade. While Cimini says Ballard initially balked at the asking price, Mougey himself noted Indianapolis’ offers “kept getting richer and richer.” The Colts inquired on the Giants’ Deonte Banks (per Cimini) and the Saints’ Alontae Taylor (as previously reported), but Gardner is on an entirely different tier.
As Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon put it during a conversation with Ballard on the eve of the deadline, “[d]o you want to Band-Aid [the cornerback position] or fix it for the long-term?” (via Breer). When Ballard explained how valuable Gardner could be, particularly considering the importance of CBs in defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s scheme, Irsay-Gordon agreed the long-term fix was the right choice.
According to Cimini, the Jets were emphatic about including Mitchell in the trade. Breer adds Indianapolis grew increasingly amenable to moving the 2024 second-rounder, who had become an afterthought in the team’s offense. With the Jets high on Mitchell and the Colts prepared to move on, all of the pieces for the Gardner trade were in place.
Of course, Gardner was not the only elite defender Mougey jettisoned at the deadline. Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was sent to the Cowboys in a swap that netted the Jets DT Mazi Smith, a 2026 second-rounder, and the higher of Dallas’ two 2027 first-rounders. Per Breer, Mougey knew the Cowboys would not give back everything they had gotten in the offseason Micah Parsons trade, which is one of the reasons why the GM began to consider a first-rounder in 2027 instead of 2026. The other reason is that he and his staff believe the ‘27 draft class offers more promise than the ‘26 crop. Now, thanks to the Gardner and Williams deals, the Jets have three first-round selections (including their own) in a year they consider to be rife with quality prospects.
Both Brian Costello of the New York Post and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network write that head coach Aaron Glenn was heavily involved in the trade discussions, which bolsters Rapoport’s report that Glenn will not be a one-and-done coach. Owner Woody Johnson recently called Glenn “the real deal,” and sources tell Rapoport that Glenn will not be judged by the Jets’ 2025 record and will be given a chance to guide the club through its rebuild.
Johnson has a history of being something of a meddlesome owner, but Cimini suggests that was not the case at this year’s deadline. Instead, when his first-year GM and HC told him of the plan to trade Gardner mere months after authorizing a lucrative extension for him, Johnson simply reaffirmed his faith in his top power brokers.
Quinnen Williams Made Multiple Trade Requests In Final Jets Stretch
The Jets cleaned house Tuesday. While several of the team’s trade chips are still on the roster, the club cashed out on Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams on deadline day.
Gardner is now a Colt, while the Cowboys paid up to pry Williams from the Jets. As it turned out, the Pro Bowl defensive tackle wanted out. Williams had made three separate trade requests to the Jets, according to SNY’s Connor Hughes. They met the last one, dealing him to Dallas in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 first and former first-round D-tackle Mazi Smith.
Aaron Glenn was critical of Williams in their head-to-head meeting upon the former Lions DC taking the HC job, with Hughes noting the relationship began to spiral at that point. Williams also was not onboard with the Jets’ quarterback plan, commenting on X that it would be “another rebuilding year” for him after the team cut Aaron Rodgers this offseason. Glenn addressed that disapproval with Williams months ago, and while the standout D-tackle called his tweet immature, Hughes notes the Rodgers release did mark a key point on the Williams-Jets timeline.
The Jets have struggled with Justin Fields at the helm, benching him in Week 7 and then seemingly being prepared to start Tyrod Taylor in Week 8 before the backup was deemed unable to play due to injury. A 2019 draftee, Williams has not been part of an eight-win team yet as a Jet. He will head to a Cowboys team that has been far more successful in recent years, albeit one synonymous with postseason failure.
Williams’ trade asks stemmed from unhappiness with the Jets’ direction, per The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt. He is certainly not the first veteran to gripe about being part of a rebuild, and the Jets’ 0-7 start pointed them in that direction ahead of the trade deadline. Breece Hall made a trade request following the Williams and Gardner deals, but the Jets held onto their starting running back.
As Williams’ frustration with the situation spread around the NFL, Rosenblatt adds the Jets were still informing teams they were not trading him. The Jets discussed him with the Cowboys as part of a potential Micah Parsons trade, but no deal happened then. Hughes previously noted the team’s stance softened here, and the Jets began listening on deadline deals involving their top D-lineman recently. Receiving first- and second-round picks became enough to sever ties. He now joins Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa in a Dallas DT corps including three $20MM-per-year contracts.
The Jets gave Williams a four-year, $96MM extension in July 2023. At the time, the former No. 3 overall pick’s $47.86MM fully guaranteed topped the market at DT. Chris Jones, Nnamdi Madubuike and Milton Williams now top that, and Christian Wilkins had done so before his messy Raiders divorce. Williams had also pushed for a rework, according to Hughes, that would have added guaranteed money to his deal.
Only $5MM guaranteed remains on the Alabama alum’s contract post-2025, but with Williams under contract through 2027 and the Jets changing regimes, nothing happened on this front. Williams, 27, had then made it known he had no intention to sign another Jets extension. Mike Maccagnan drafted Williams, and Joe Douglas extended him. After Darren Mougey traded him, the Cowboys will be the ones in charge of a potential rework now.
Woody Johnson Criticizes Justin Fields’ Play; Jets Close To Naming Tyrod Taylor Starter
The Jets had taken the rookie route during most of their time between Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, deviating only during the Ryan Fitzpatrick–Josh McCown years ahead of the Sam Darnold pick. Now, they have turned to back-to-back veterans, with Justin Fields succeeding Rodgers.
As Rodgers has bounced back in Pittsburgh, Fields is floundering in New York. The Jets pried Fields from a Steelers team interested in re-signing him, handing out a two-year deal worth $40MM ($30MM guaranteed at signing). Outfitting the shaky passer with a top-heavy pass-catching corps, the Jets have received poor play. Woody Johnson is among those concerned about the quarterback.
“It looks like (Aaron Glenn) is turning around part of it,” Johnson said (via the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy). “It’s hard when you have a quarterback with the rating that we’ve got. He has the ability, but something is not jiving. If you look at any head coach with a quarterback like that, you are going to similar results across the league. You have to play consistently at that position and that’s what we’re going to try to do.
“… If we could just complete a pass, it would look good. You have to convince them that you can do something, otherwise it’s hard to have a game that you can win.”
No stranger to throwing his weight around, Johnson endorsing Glenn (while making pointed criticism about his new regime’s QB choice) is notable. The recent firings of Urban Meyer, Nathaniel Hackett and Frank Reich during their first seasons shows teams have been willing to cut the cord early if an operation skids far off track. A GM informed the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora he could see Johnson making another impulsive move and firing Glenn during or after his first season in charge. Johnson, however, called Glenn “the real deal” when speaking to media (via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler) today.
A former standout Jets cornerback who became a hot coaching commodity this offseason, Glenn has steered the team to an 0-7 mark. Although the Lions were on a similar path to open the 2021 season — Glenn’s first year as Detroit’s DC — that team did not have the defensive talent the current Jets squad does. Despite working with Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams, Quincy Williams, Will McDonald and the recently re-signed Jamien Sherwood, Glenn has the Jets’ defense sitting 26th in scoring and 27th in EPA per play. While New York does sit 16th in yardage (an improvement over last season’s 20th-place ranking), the team has disappointed in just about every facet this year.
Glenn will be given more time to turn this around, but he will need to make a quarterback decision after benching Fields in Week 7 and not committing to starting him in Week 8. Fields sits 31st in QBR; among current starters, only Cam Ward is worse. Never viewed as a particularly accurate passer, Fields had been tabbed to pilot an offense featuring little in terms of aerial weaponry outside of Garrett Wilson. The recently extended wideout is now injured, and the team predictably sputtered without its top weapon.
Glenn benched Fields a week after he took nine sacks and threw for just 45 yards in a loss to the Broncos, and the demotion — one the HC dismissed after the London loss — appears close to being a long-term plan. The first-year HC is moving toward Tyrod Taylor as the team’s Week 8 starter, ESPN’s Rich Cimini reports.
Taylor has only been given starts due to injuries over the past four seasons. Although he opened the 2018, ’20 and ’21 campaigns as a starter (in Cleveland, Los Angeles and Houston), he sat behind the likes of Daniel Jones, Tommy DeVito (for a stretch in 2023) and Rodgers since. The 15th-year QB is in the second season of a two-year, $12MM deal — one the Jets handed out after they did not add a veteran to backstop Rodgers in 2023.
This would move Taylor’s start count to 60. The former three-year Bills starter has plenty of experience filling in, but a benching of this sort would be much more relevant for Fields, who had commanded considerable interest as a free agent. The Steelers preferred he and Matthew Stafford to Rodgers, but after they parked Fields near midseason (as Russell Wilson recovered from a calf injury), the 2021 first-rounder became more open to looking elsewhere. He found a taker in the Jets, but the results have proven wildly disappointing.
With Johnson making these comments, the coaching staff’s relationship with its handpicked starter may need some mending. Though, the Jets have more obstacles to overcome than worrying about a struggling QB’s mindset.
Whether this will be a short-term reset or the Jets admitting a mistake early, Johnson saying (via Cimini) the QB call is “completely up to the coach” will apply some heat on Glenn. GM Darren Mougey is also under the microscope considering how his first QB swing is going.
For now, Glenn is in good standing. But at 0-7, the rookie HC will need to show progress soon to avoid one-and-done rumors. It appears the coach is showing more faith in Taylor to help create that progress. By 2026, however, rumors figure to connect the Jets to an aggressive pursuit of another rookie option under center.
Jets HC Aaron Glenn Doesn’t Want Breece Hall Trade
About a third of the way through the final year of his rookie contract, Jets running back Breece Hall continues to serve as the subject of trade rumor after trade rumor after trade rumor. Each time the subject comes up, though, head coach Aaron Glenn is there to deny, deny, deny. That last denial came today (via ESPN’s Rich Cimini) as Glenn reiterated to reporters that the team has “no plans to trade Hall.” 
Today’s denial comes on the heels of comments the 24-year-old rusher made last Friday in London, in which he stressed that does not want to be traded. Hall was approached by reporters, again, today in the locker room, and his tune changed to something seemingly a bit more neutral.
“I haven’t posted anything this season, so (it’s) just a way for me to say I’m ready for whatever comes my way at the end of the day,” Hall confided in the media. “Whether it’s going against an opponent, whether it’s in my life, it’s just for me. It’s a football thing. So, alright, I’m ready for whatever opponent’s coming my way, whatever the case may be. It’s a for-the-game type of thing.”
Hall excited everyone back in 2022 as a second-round rookie out of Iowa State, utilizing a 5.8 yards per carry figure to surpass Michael Carter as the Jets’ starting running back after five games. Tears to his ACL and meniscus derailed a magical rookie season, and though he made a strong return in Year 2, the excitement dissipated as he failed to meet relatively high expectations upon his return to the field. Stagnant development last year, combined with some strong early looks at then-rookie running back Braelon Allen, began some speculation that Hall’s time in New York may be coming to an end.
There have already been reports that an extension is not likely in the cards for Hall. If the playoffs are quickly becoming out of reach for the Jets and Hall is expected to just walk in free agency, it would make all the sense in the world to offer Hall up to a contender in need of help at running back so that the team can get something for him rather than just watching him walk away for nothing.
Regardless, Glenn and Hall both have been adamant about wanting to stay together, and the potential long-term injury of Allen makes Hall far less expendable that he would’ve otherwise been. Still, Hall clearly senses something in the air, and with so many rumors dedicated to the subject, there’s usually fire where there’s smoke.
Jets Notes: Youth, UDFAs, Front Office
Thanks in part to Aaron Rodgers and his say on acquisitions, the Jets had no choice but to lean on their veterans in 2024. With Aaron Glenn now controlling the show (and Rodgers no longer on the roster), the team is hoping to be a bit more reliant on their youth in 2025 and beyond.
As ESPN’s Rich Cimini notes, the Jets entered last season with 12 players aged 30 or older. At the moment, the team only has five such players: quarterback Tyrod Taylor (36), long-snapper Thomas Hennessy (31), wide receiver Allen Lazard (30), wide receiver Josh Reynolds (30), and guard Zack Bailey (30). After finishing last season with the NFL’s eighth-oldest roster, Cimini writes that the Jets are currently armed with the league’s fourth-youngest squad.
The team’s approach is somewhat by design, and Glenn said he won’t be afraid to use his inexperienced players in 2025.
“Listen, do we want younger players? Absolutely. It’s a young man’s game,” Glenn told Cimini. “It’s a young man’s game, but we want players that can help us win. So if those players happen to be 30 years old, we get those players. It just so happened that we got younger while we got players that could help us win.”
More notes out of New York…
- In that same article, Cimini notes that the Jets front office was especially aggressive in the UDFA pool this offseason. While a $200K guarantee is considered a significant payday for undrafted players, Cimini observes that the Jets gave out that kind of money to three rooks: guard Leander Wiegand ($249K), defensive tackle Payton Page ($201K), and edge rusher Ja’Markis Weston ($200K).
- While Darren Mougey is just about done with his first offseason as Jets GM, the executive continues to add to his staff. According to insider Neil Stratton, the Jets have hired TJ McCreight in an unspecified executive role. McCreight brings more than 25 years of NFL experience in stops with the Colts, Ravens, Eagles, and Cardinals. Per ESPN’s Seth Walder, the Jets also hired former NFL consultant Sean Clement into a director-level analytics role. The organization is also promoting from within, as Stratton notes that former player personnel assistant Thomas Witty has been promoted to a pro scout role.
- We heard recently that the Jets started engaging in contract talks with wideout Garrett Wilson. Our own Nikhil Mehta explored Wilson’s extension candidacy yesterday.