Surprise! NY Giants TE Darren Waller Unretires, Gets Traded to Miami

Tight end Darren Waller, who retired from football a year ago after a long, drawn-out and emotionally driven decision-making process, has reportedly decided to come out of retirement to resume his NFL career.

Except it won’t be with the NY Giants, who placed Waller on the reserve/retired list after he informed them of his intention to retire. NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero reported that Waller is being traded to Miami, who had an opening for a tight end after trading away Jonnu Smith.

Waller was traded from the Raiders to the Giants after the 2022 season, with the Giants looking to add a big, athletic, and productive tight end to an offense that was coming off its first postseason berth since 2016. 

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But the injury-plagued tight end couldn’t escape the ailments that derailed the latter part of his career with the Raiders. He missed seven games with the Giants due to lower-body injuries and finished his only stint in New York with 52 receptions for 552 yards and one touchdown.

Waller, who recently revealed that it was during the Giants’ Week 6 game against Buffalo, in which he knew he was likely done with the game, also showed a serious medical scare that gave him pause about the direction of his career. 

During the 2024 offseason, as he contemplated his football future, the 32-year-old Waller focused on building a music career. At the time, he was also dealing with some personal issues, including the breakup of his marriage to WNBA star Kelsey Plum.

He informed the Giants in June of 2024  that he was walking away from the game. The Giants, who held the rights to his services because they put him on the reserve list, drafted Theo Johnson out of Penn State last year to ensure they had a big-bodied and athletic tight end on the roster just in case Waller did retire.  

According to Pelissero, the trade, which will be finalized pending a physical, will see the Dolphins send a conditional 2026 sixth-round pick to the Giants in exchange for Waller and a 2027 seventh-round pick.

It’s currently unknown what the condition is for the Giants to receive the extra draft pick next year. 

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