The Houston Texans are one of the teams that many believe will be major players in the running back market come March 11th, when free agency begins.
Incumbent starting running back Joe Mixon was unavailable for the entirety of 2025 due to a mystery foot injury, Nick Chubb looked nothing like his former self and Woody Marks performed admirably for a rookie, but not transformatively. Then, Houston's lone 100-yard rushing game came in week 15 against the Arizona Cardinals (Jawhar Jordan).
Finishing 22nd in yards (108.9/game) and tied for 2nd-worst in touchdowns (9), it's almost academic that offensive coordinator Nick Caley and his offense need a shot in the arm in the rushing department for 2026 and beyond.
If you believe what several projection articles have suggested, that shot could come in the form of soon-to-be free agent New York Jets running back Breece Hall. After spending his first four years toiling away in the backfield of a team that's gone a combined 22-46 since his debut, Hall will be free to hear Houston's best sales pitch (assuming they're interested).
However, a new update by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler has now flipped the perception of his availability on its head.
The Jets just made things more complicated for the Texans' potential pursuit of Breece Hall
According to Fowler,
"The Jets are weighing all options with Breece Hall’s future, including a tag and/or an effort toward a long-term deal. Some inside league expect the transition tag for Hall (around $11.7M), but that’s yet to be determined."
With this news, the potential to freely negotiate with Hall in a little over two weeks has become more cumbersome to accomplish.
If there's any kind of tag applied, it would allow the Jets to have final say and/or benefit when it comes the consummation of a transaction.
For the uninitiated, there are three different tags a franchise can utilize in these situations: the non-exclusive tag, exclusive tag and transition tag (all following tag descriptions per ESPN.com)
Each franchise tag type has different stipulations when used
If the Jets apply the Non-Exclusive Tag, it would allow Hall to sign an offer sheet with another team. New York would have the right to match the offer or receive two first-round draft picks in compensation if the player leaves (most common tag).
If they use the Exclusive Tag, it would completely bind Hall to the Jets. His agent would be prohibited from seeking an offer sheet in that case.
Finally, with the Transition Tag, it only provides the Jets the right to match the other team's offer. If the New York decides not to offer a matching bid, it gets no compensation if Hall were to leave.
WIth any tag being activated, it would trigger a window of negotiation toward a potential long-term deal between Hall and the Jets until July 15th. If the two sides then can't come up with an agreement, Hall would have to then play on the one-year deal.
The Texans may look in another direction
Due to the salary cap gymnastics that Houston already has to do just to get their financial situation in the black, there's no telling how much of a stomach the front office will have for having to possibly start their talks with Hall at roughly $11.7 million due to tagging (per Spotrac, Hall's value is projected at about $10.3 million APY).
If they are interested in Hall, they will have to wait on the Jets to make a decision about how they want to handle their 24-year old, 1,000-yard rusher. If not, don't be surprised if names like Tyler Allgeier and Rico Dowdle start becoming connected to Houston in the coming days as alternatives.