As the Raiders attempted to regroup after their 2019 Antonio Brown trade netted them zero game appearances from the mercurial talent, a Darren Waller flier paid considerable dividends. Waller anchored multiple Raiders passing attacks, leading to two contract extensions.
The second of those came just before last season, when Waller hired Drew Rosenhaus to hammer out a three-year, $51M deal that was finalized just before Week 1. However, Waller ended up missing more time due to injury last season. As the 2023 league year began, the Raiders traded Waller to the Giants for a third-round compensatory pick — the same choice the Chiefs sent over for Kadarius Toney last year.
It is not especially common to see teams bail on players months after authorizing extensions, and while rumors about off-field issues cropped up, Adam Caplan of ProFootballNetwork.com notes the Raiders are believed to have grown concerned about Waller’s mounting injury trouble. Some Raiders staffers viewed the injury trouble as a big enough issue to explore the trade, per Caplan. Trade talks with the Packers even occurred before last year’s deadline.
Waller, 30, has missed 14 games over the past two seasons. Last year, hamstring trouble led to eight absences. Waller missed three games before being placed on IR, ensuring he would be sidelined for at least four more. The nagging issue ended up taking two months of game action off Waller’s schedule, and his extended absence led to some in-house frustration. While the veteran tight end returned in mid-December and played the final four Raiders games, the team still decided to accept the Giants’ offer and move on after four-plus years.
The Raiders initially signed Waller off the Ravens’ practice squad late during the 2018 season. In 2019, the converted wide receiver who nearly saw substance-abuse issues lead him out of the NFL posted a 1,145-yard receiving season. A year later, Waller accumulated 1,196 yards and eight touchdowns. In 2021, however, ankle trouble affected Waller during training camp and then recurred in-season. An IT band injury sustained during the Raiders’ Thanksgiving win over the Cowboys later cost Waller four games.
Lacking the receiving talent the Raiders currently possess, the Giants will count on Waller shaking off his injury problems. Waller’s contract, which the Giants restructured soon after acquiring him, runs through 2025. Although the restructure makes a future cut slightly more expensive, the Giants can move on from Waller and take only a $2.5M dead-money hit by designating him as a post-June 1 cut in 2024. While the team did trade a third-round pick for the accomplished pass-catcher — one of just eight tight ends to ever record two 1,100-yard receiving seasons — the Giants can move on rather cheaply despite Waller securing a position-leading AAV from the Raiders last September.
Waller’s injuries led to increased Foster Moreau time. The former fourth-round pick was not a notable part of the Raiders’ passing attack in 2019 or 2020, but as Waller became increasingly unavailable, the team needed its backup more. Moreau combined for 63 receptions, 793 yards and five touchdown receptions over the past two years. The Raiders attempted to re-sign Moreau, Caplan adds, but ended up going with a combination of UFA addition Austin Hooper and second-round pick Michael Mayer.
Moreau also saw a cancer diagnosis hijack his free agency. The Bengals hosted the fifth-year player on a visit, but a subsequent Saints meeting led to a Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis. But Moreau is now in remission and signed to a three-year, $12.23M Saints contract. As the Raiders turn the page at tight end and quarterback, the LSU alum and New Orleans native will play for his hometown team and keeping working with Derek Carr.
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