Breece Hall trade speculation is running rampant ahead of next Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, and the New York Jets just weighed in. Hall hasn’t played since suffering a quad injury against the Detroit Lions in Week 3. Meanwhile, Braelon Allen has emerged as the Jets’ lead back in his absence. Put those two things together and you get a lot of noise.

Jets head coach Aaron Glenn was asked about the Hall trade chatter Monday, and he didn’t leave much wiggle room.

Glenn told reporters, “I’ve said it before, we’re in the business of keeping good players and he’s one of our better players, so Breece will still be here.”

He then got a follow-up asking whether there was any scenario where New York would consider moving Hall. His answer was short:

“We’re in the process of keeping good players or of getting better players.”

So Glenn didn’t flatly say no to the follow-up. What he made clear is that the Jets view Hall as one of the best players on their roster, and they don’t want to move him.

Breece Hall’s absence has been confusing

I want to start with Hall before getting into Allen, because his situation has puzzled me from the beginning.

After the Lions game, the Jets labeled Hall’s quad injury as week-to-week. We are now heading into Week 9, which means Hall has missed more than a month. For whatever reason, New York never placed him on injured reserve. A week-to-week injury that stretches past a month without an IR stint is hard to make sense of.

Hall has been practicing in a limited fashion for the past two weeks. Heading into Week 7 against the Dolphins, he didn’t practice Wednesday before getting in limited work Thursday and Friday. Leading up to the Raiders game, he was limited all week.

This week matters. If Hall logs a full practice, that will be a pretty good tell of whether he plays against the Chiefs. I have no idea whether or not I expect him to do so. 

Breece Hall also recently deactivated his X account amidst the trade rumors.

Braelon Allen is playing like one of the NFL’s best backs

Here is where things get dicey, in my opinion.

Allen is playing like one of the best lead backs in the league right now. Not on name recognition, but on what he is putting on tape week in and week out. In the past five games as the Jets’ starter, Allen has put up over 100 rushing yards per game on just 93 carries, with two scores to go with it.

Then came Sunday against the Raiders. Allen ran for 121 yards in the first half alone, the most first-half rushing yards by any running back in the NFL this season. He has been phenomenal since getting thrust into the lead role.

That’s why I wouldn’t mind seeing the Jets trade Hall. He would likely bring back some decent draft capital, and New York already has a back producing at an elite level.

The case for keeping both

Now look, I get the counterargument. Trade Hall, and Allen becomes your clear lead back. You’re probably fine there. The problem is depth. Without Hall, the Jets lose the duo they would have if both backs stayed in the backfield together.

I would push back on that a bit, though. With Hall in the lineup, Allen doesn’t get the same volume of touches. We haven’t seen the full scope of what Allen can do in a split backfield, and the last five games give us a glimpse of what a full workload looks like. Shipping Hall out would open the door for Allen to show it.

Obviously, Glenn’s message points in one direction. I’ll take him at his word that the Jets aren’t moving Hall. With that being said, that follow-up answer wasn’t a hard no. Keep an eye on this one until next Tuesday’s deadline, because a team with a back playing like Allen has a real decision on its hands.

If the Jets are to trade Breece Hall, they might be a better football team because of it.