Waller's Season Over; Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Darren Waller's 2025 season will end just as it started.

The Miami Dolphins placed the veteran tight end on injured reserve because of a groin injury Friday, two days before the team's season finale against the New England Patriots.

The Waller move was one of three transcations the Dolphins made Friday, along with signing running back Donovan Edwards off the Washington Commanders practice squad and releasing cornerback Clarence Lewis from the practice squad.

Edwards went undrafted out of Michigan this year before signing with the New York Jets. He hooked up with the Commanders in late August but never was elevated for a game.

Edwards becomes the fourth running back on the active roster, joining De'Von Achane, Jaylen Wright and fellow rookie Ollie Gordon II.

REVISITING THE WALLER MOVE

The big news, though, was putting Waller on IR.

In the end, Waller was who we thought he was, to steal from Dennis Green.

More precisely, his one season in Miami mirrored his career.

When he was on the field, Waller was very productive and a mismatch for opposing defenses. Though he didn't have a ton of catches, he sure made them count, scoring on six of his 24 receptions — quick math will tell us that's one out of four.

But then there were the injuries.

Waller wound up playing only nine games for the Dolphins this season, with a stint on PUP at the start of training camp because of a hip injury, a stint on IR midway through the season because of a pectoral issue, and now the groin problem.

This unfortunately is familiar for Waller, who has played 16 games in only two of his nine NFL seasons.

The Dolphins knew that before they traded a late-round pick to the New York Giants for his services over the summer and they should have planned accordingly.

When he was on the field, Waller was a more dangerous weapon for the offense than the player he replaced, Jonnu Smith, except he just didn't play enough.

And this is where the Dolphins made a bad mistake, essentially making Waller the sole replacement for Smith and having only Julian Hill and Tanner Conner along with him at tight end to start the season.

The Dolphins all along should have treated Waller as a luxury, someone who'd be great to have when available but not someone to be heavily dependent upon. That's just not who Waller has been, considering his long history of injuries.

Waller, who is tied for the team lead with Jaylen Waddle with his six TD receptions, was good. He just wasn't available enough.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR WALLER?

Waller is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March, but the bigger question is whether he'll even want to continue playing.

When he came out of retirement last summer, he said the only two people who would have motivated him to do that were former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden and Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith, his position coach with the Raiders.

Waller said late in the season he hadn't decided on whether he wanted to continue playing beyond 2025, and one would think the series of injuries aren't exactly going to be great motivators to keep going.

As for the Dolphins, who had Waller on a very modest $2 million deal, they absolutely should consider bringing him back — but only as part of a larger group and not as the main player at the position.

The Dolphins have a solid blocking tight end in Julian Hill and Greg Dulcich showed really good promise after being picked up after he was released by the New York Giants, and that's a good starting point.

There would be nothing wrong with bringing back Waller at a reasonable salary because he is an impact player. But he can't be the No. 1 tight end heading into camp.

And that's even assuming he'll want to play again.