One year with the New York Giants was enough to convince tight end Darren Waller to retire. Now, he’s set to make an NFL comeback with a new team.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the New York Giants are trading the newly un-retired tight end to the Miami Dolphins.
The move comes roughly 13 months after Waller announced his retirement – he cited a health scare he experienced in November 2023 as the reason – and one day after the Dolphins traded tight end Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers as part of the Jalen Ramsey-Minkah Fitzpatrick trade.
Waller, 32, last played for the Giants in 2023. That year, he caught 52 passes for 552 yards – second-most on the team that year – and one touchdown.
Prior to his one-year stint with New York, Waller had played five seasons with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders. He made a Pro Bowl in 2020 after recording a second-straight 1,000-yard season, but injuries shortened all three of the seasons that followed.
In 2021, Waller missed one game with an ankle injury and five games with a knee injury. The following year, he missed eight games – and all but six snaps of a ninth – with a hamstring strain. In 2023, Waller’s last season, another hamstring injury kept Waller out five games.
Darren Waller trade details
Dolphins receive:
- TE Darren Waller
- Conditional 2027 seventh-round pick
Giants receive:
- 2026 sixth-round pick
Waller and a conditional 2027 seventh-round pick are headed to Miami for a 2026 sixth-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
In addition to acquiring Waller, the Dolphins are giving the formerly retired tight end a one-year deal ‘worth up to $5 million,’ Schefter wrote on social media website X.
It’s the second time in Waller’s career he’s being traded. The first came in 2023, when the Giants sent a third-round pick to the Raiders for the tight end, who at the time was among the league’s highest-paid at his position.
Why did the Dolphins trade for Waller?
Miami needed a tight end to replace Jonnu Smith after it traded him to the Steelers as part of the deal that reunited the Dolphins with safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Smith was coming off of a career year with the Dolphins in 2024. His 88 receptions, 884 yards and eight touchdowns all either set new career highs or matched previous ones. It was enough to earn him his first career Pro Bowl nod after eight seasons in the league.
But as Smith tried to cash in on his big year with a contract extension, Miami ultimately decided to part ways with the veteran via trade. He received a one-year, $12 million extension with Pittsburgh after the trade.
Waller represents a possible replacement for Smith at the tight end spot. The cost to acquire the oft-injured, eight-year NFL veteran was minimal – a sixth-round pick in next year’s draft – while Waller’s potential ceiling could greatly help Miami’s passing offense work the middle of the field.
As Palm Beach Post’s Joe Schad put it, ‘Low-cost move probably worth the flier.’
