Javonte Williams' Cowboys contract may quietly help Jets with Breece Hall

On Saturday, the Dallas Cowboys inked impending free agent running back Javonte Williams to a three-year, $24 million deal, with $16 million guaranteed, the first new contract for a running back this offseason.

It's a solid deal for the former UNC product, who proved he could be an every-down back after struggling with injuries throughout the first few years of his career with the Denver Broncos. Williams ran for 1,201 yards on 252 attempts in 2025, scoring 11 touchdowns for Dallas' offense.

The New York Jets front office likely had an eye on Williams' negotiations and is keeping tabs on the running back market in preparation for their own free-agent back, Breece Hall.

What does Williams' contract mean for the Jets and their plans with Hall?

Javonte Williams' deal is a positive development for the Jets

No one is putting Williams in the same tier of a running back as Hall, so their contracts certainly won't be identical. But in a vacuum, you could say the Cowboys got somewhat of a discount on their starting running back. Could the Jets do the same?

Williams' deal with Dallas is paying him around $8 million on a per-year basis, slotting him under running backs such as the Carolina Panthers' Chuba Hubbard, New England Patriots' Rhamondre Stevenson, and Detroit Lions' David Montgomery. None of the aforementioned players had a better 2025 season than the Cowboys' lead-back.

Is that a sign that the running back market won't be as hot as previously expected? Maybe. If that's the case, the Jets should be able to bring back Hall on a reasonable contract.

Among the projections for Hall floating around include a four-year, $41.5 million deal from Spotrac and a four-year, $54 million deal from The Athletic.

There's a fairly large gap between those two estimations, and the likely probability is that Hall's deal falls somewhere in between. Considering Williams' season was only able to land him in the top-12 to 15 range for the highest-paid running backs, Hall will likely fall closer to the bottom of the top-10.

The contract that has been pointed to the most throughout the early portions of the offseason has been Kyren Williams' contract with the Los Angeles Rams. Last August, the former Notre Dame product inked a three-year, $33 million extension. Given Hall's younger age, a four-year, $44 million deal makes more sense for the current climate.

With the franchise tag window opening on February 17, it's possible the Jets tag Hall, then sign him to a deal, giving him a nice raise in year one of the contract, and playing out the rest on an appropriate salary.

The franchise tag window remains open until March 3, and Hall's market will surely have more clarity by then.