With the New York Jets falling to 0-4 on Monday night, the Chicago Bears might want to start taking their temperature on the possibility of a trade for star running back Breece Hall before the NFL trade deadline in November.
The Jets lost their fourth straight game of the season in the sloppiest fashion against the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football, losing three fumbles and committing 13 penalties that cost them a staggering 101 yards in the 27-21 loss to their division rival.
Their mistake-filled performance also squandered another good night for Hall, who gained 81 yards on 14 rushes and caught five of his six targets for another 30 yards.
Through four games, Hall has the 19th-most rushing yards (238) in the league, but his 4.6 yards per carry ranks 11th among all running backs with at least 50 carries. He is also just 29 yards away from eclipsing 4,000 career scrimmage yards after this week.
The Bears could use a dynamic playmaker like Hall in their offense after four weeks of mediocrity from veteran D’Andre Swift, who is averaging 3.3 yards per carry and has failed to hit 40 rushing yards in each of the past two games despite 13 or more carries. Their 24th-ranked rushing offense hasn’t gotten much from its other rushers, either.
While the Bears would likely need to make a generous offer to persuade the slumping Jets to trade away one of their top offensive players, it is a risk worth exploring — as we have in this hypothetical trade proposal — if it could fix their offense’s biggest issue.
The trade proposal: The Bears send a 2026 fourth-round pick (originally belonging to the Los Angeles Rams) and running back Roschon Johnson to the Jets for Hall.
Breece Hall Trade Would Likely Be a Long-Term Play
Some fans will scoff at the proposed trade price above, because why on earth would the Bears give up an early Day 3 pick and a backup running back for a half-season rental?
But thinking about a trade for Hall — or any running back who is in the final year of his rookie contract — as a short-term investment is flawed, and not the suggestion here.
If the Bears were to trade for Hall, the wisest strategy would be to have a long-term plan in place to lock him down for the foreseeable future. The trade wouldn’t necessarily need to be contingent on Hall agreeing to an extension with the Bears beforehand, but they should at least know what Hall is seeking and whether they can meet his price.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles did this once before in 2023 when he traded for defensive end Montez Sweat at the NFL trade deadline and then signed him to a four-year, $98 million contract extension just four days after completing the trade.
Of course, the Bears would need to feel confident about Hall’s long-term fit. He has, at times, looked like an ascending superstar for the Jets, but whether Chicago’s front office has bought into his potential is unclear. If the Bears are sold on him, though, trading for him now to improve their offense immediately and skip the free-agent negotiating line.
A fourth-round pick is nothing if it secures a long-term option in Chicago’s backfield. And Johnson, for all his early promise, seems to have no place in the new offense, as he has yet to play his first offensive snap of the 2025 season through four games.
Will Bears Add Talent Before NFL Trade Deadline?
Hall could make for an ideal trade target for the Bears if they decide to make a move in advance of November 4’s league deadline. But, for all their perceived roster needs, it is fair to question whether the Bears involve themselves in any wheeling and dealing.
The Bears don’t have the same wealth of draft capital in 2025 that they have had in previous years. According to Over the Cap, they are also relatively light on cap space, with roughly $9.1 million available in 2025 and about a $5.4 million deficit in 2026.
While future moves and the projected raising of the salary cap will help alleviate their financial constraints and give them back some spending power for next offseason, they are not in a particularly good position to make a big-time acquisition at the deadline.
Even still, the Bears could find the motivation to make something happen if they spend the majority of October winning games. They just won consecutive games for the first time since before their Fail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders last season. If they are sitting at 5-2 before the deadline, a trade to keep rolling would make sense.
Bears Trade Proposal Lands 3,900-Yard RB to Fix Biggest Need