ANew York Jets legend is returning to the spotlight.
Curtis Martin will announce both of the Jets second round draft choices during day two of the 2026 NFL draft, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter revealed.
The green and white are scheduled to have two selections in the second round with the No. 33 and No. 44 overall picks, respectively.
A Special Sauce
Martin, 52, announcing any draft picks for the Jets at any location would be noteworthy. However, this year it holds extra special meaning.
The 2026 NFL draft is set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Martin was born and raised in Pittsburgh. He attended Allderdice High School and later pursued his collegiate studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Now he returns home representing his former team, the Jets.
The former Panthers product joined the Jets as a restricted free agent in 1998. He started his NFL career with the Jets’ bitter rival, the New England Patriots. However, the team was able to lure him away with a “poison pill” clause in his offer sheet.
Martin would go on to play eight years in New York after spending the first three seasons of his career with the Pats.
He finished his career with 14,101 rushing yards, 100 total touchdowns, was a three-time All-Pro, and a five-time Pro Bowler. Martin was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012.
One of his career highlights came during the 2004 season. He toted the rock 371 times for 1,697 rushing yards and averaged 4.6 yards per carry. Martin became the oldest player to win the NFL rushing title in history (31 years of age).
Jets Finally Ended an Embarrassing Drought
Martin is not only the best running back in Jets franchise history, but he is one of the best tailbacks in the history of football. Martin announced his retirement in the summer of 2007. In 10 of his 11 seasons, Martin surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing plateau.
Those results increased fans’ standards and expectations for the position. In 2015, Chris Ivory ran for 1,070 rushing yards for the Jets. The Jets didn’t have another 1K rusher a decade.
Breece Hall finally ended that drought this past season. Hall ran for 1,065 rushing yards on 243 carries.
That ended the longest active 1K rushing drought in the NFL.
Now the Jets will try to transform a drought into a streak. This offseason, the Jets placed the franchise tag on Hall, which prevented him from hitting the open market of free agency.
That one-year $14.29 million salary makes Hall the fifth-highest-paid running back in the NFL, per Over The Cap. Hall reaching 1,000 rushing yards should be a bare basic expectation for the 2026 season.
Last season, 17 players rushed for over 1,000 yards in the NFL, according to ESPN. There are only 32 teams in the league. So, in other words, over half of the league had a running back who accomplished that feat.
A running back rushing for over 1,000 rushing yards in a 17-game season isn’t as impressive as it used to be. To reach the 1K plateau in a 17-game season, you just have to average a measly 59 rushing yards per game.
The Jets’ expectations will be a lot higher for Hall in 2026, and they should be. When you pay that kind of price tag, you expect Hall to be one of the best running backs in the league.
Jets Make Curtis Martin Announcement Days Before NFL Draft