The Kansas City Chiefs will not be adding any more help for quarterback Patrick Mahomes this year, but next spring the offense could begin to look considerably different around the two-time MVP.

Kansas City was in discussions with the New York Jets about a trade for running back Breece Hall, which fell through due to squabble over compensation — New York wanted a third-round pick, while the Chiefs weren’t willing to go higher than a fourth-rounder. In retrospect, both teams are probably losers in the lack of an outcome, as the Jets will now watch him leave for nothing, while the Chiefs won’t be able to utilize his skill set to help them make a stretch run.

Longterm, however, Kansas City can still come out on top. All things considered, 30-year-old Kareem Hunt hasn’t played poorly for the Chiefs, but he’s a backup at this point in his career and in the final season of his contract. Meanwhile, former seventh-round pick Isiah Pacheco is headed for free agency himself in March.

The team could bring back Hunt on another cheap deal, they’re currently paying him $1.5 million for 2025, but the time has come for the Chiefs to pair a serious running back with Mahomes. Hall fits the bill, and ESPN ranked him the No. 6 overall player in the 2026 free agent class, not to mention the top running back.

“Hall was coveted at the trade deadline. That the Jets wanted a third-round pick in return for a running back reminds that Hall has top-end talent,” Jeremy Fowler wrote Wednesday. “And my sense is he will do just fine in free agency — think Josh Jacobs‘ four-year, $48 million deal signed in March 2024 as a possibility. A few personnel evaluators thought that was a fair contract comp.”

Breece Hall Makes Sense for Chiefs, as NFL Begins to Value RB Position More Than in Recent Years

GettyRunning back Breece Hall of the New York Jets.

Hall, 24, was a second-round pick in 2022. Spotrac currently projects his market value at $42 million total over a new four-year contract, but the value of the position has gone up some in recent years considering the impact players like Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry have made on Super Bowl-winning and/or Super Bowl-contending teams.

Kansas City is obviously both of those things, and the absence of a longterm solution at the position puts the franchise in a prime spot to pursue Hall. That is why several analysts suggested the Chiefs deal for Hall ahead of the deadline, and why Kansas City almost did.

“Hall is a pending free agent and the Jets probably have bigger fish to fry this offseason, while the Chiefs are not getting as much as they’d probably like out of their offensive backfield,” Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report wrote October 29. “Hall yields the Jets a late-round pick and becomes a cog in a backfield that also contains Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt, who takes a sizable back seat.”

Breece Hall on Track for Career Year Heading Into Free Agency

GettyNew York Jets running back Breece Hall.

Hall was a breakout player during his rookie year before an ACL tear derailed it less than halfway through the campaign.

However, he has been healthy and reliable since and is on track to put up his first 1,000-yard season after coming close in each of the past two years.

Hall has tallied 644 rushing yards and two touchdowns this season (4.8 yards per carry) to go along with 22 receptions for 220 yards and a score.