The Dolphins have taken an unexpected route to find a new veteran tight end. A trade agreement is in place with the Giants for Miami to acquire Darren Waller, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. 
Waller is coming out of retirement to head to Miami. New York still held his rights, requiring this swap to take place. The former Pro Bowler only intended to resume his playing career if he could do so with the Dolphins, Pelissero adds. That will indeed be the case. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Miami will receive Waller and a conditional 2027 seventh-round pick in exchange for a sixth-rounder in 2026.
Acquired via trade from the Raiders, Waller faced high expectations upon arrival with the Giants. The former sixth-rounder wound up only playing one season in New York, however. Retirement was brought up on more than one occasion, and last June Waller officially decided to hang up his cleats. That move – which came in the wake of a frightening health episode in November 2023 – created cap savings for the Giants but the team did not deal away his rights at any point. Two years remained on Waller’s contract at the time of his retirement, but Pelissero notes he will ink a restructured pact heavy on incentives as part of this trade.
Providing details on that point, Schefter adds this will be a one-year deal worth up to $5MM via incentives. Waller will now aim to provide his new team with a veteran pass-catching option in the wake of Jonnu Smith being dealt to the Steelers yesterday. The Dolphins were in the market for a tight end as a result, but this move is certainly not the one many would have expected.
In addition to health issues, Waller cited a waning passion for the game when addressing his decision to retire. That is of course commonplace for many around the league when they elect to hang up their cleats, but it seemed to confirm Waller would not be eyeing a return. With one exception clearly being made in the case of the Dolphins, however, he is now set to play a ninth NFL campaign.
Miami’s depth chart at the TE spot consisted of veteran Pharaoh Brown along with Julian Hill, Hayden Ricci and Jalin Conyers. Each member of the latter trio entered the league as an undrafted free agent. Expectations will be limited in their cases as a result, but it will be interesting to see how this Waller experiment unfolds in 2025.
At first, I wa sgoing to laugh, but I kinds think the year off will have been beneficial for him.
I’m sure he will be a great addition to your fantasy football league team 🙂
I hope so.
Guess his rap career didn’t pan out
All the pathetic hating you guys do.
Still not as pathetic as that song he made about Kelsey Plum
I think Miami is gonna try and be more down field after a year of short dump offs to protect Tua
Dolphins are lining up to be really bad this year. You have to wonder when Hill, Chubb, and others who see the writing on the wall come to camp and are like I’m not doing this. Trade me.
Hill has been begging the Fins to keep him and has apologized many times throughout the offseason for his lack of leadership last year. Chubb was almost cut until he decided to sign a restructured deal to get paid less but with incentives built in.
The Fins have not been bad, at least in the Mcdaniels era, but have been consistently mediocre and ravaged by injuries.
The writing in the walls is that the Fins can easily contend towards the playoffs or (as usual)barely miss out…
I see delusion still does run rampant in these fan bases.
Hill can only count on his speed to outweigh his toxicity as a person for so long.
Does he really want to play football again? Guess his money ran out.
Does not have Kelsey Plum anymore and that additional income.
The old NFL saying goes…..”when you start talking about retirement, your already a year to late”.
Aaron Rodgers has entered the conversation
Is Waller even going to be able to pass a physical? If he can stay heathy long enough to play full game I’ll be surprised.
What is going on lmao what a wild off season
When you already have one of the oldest rosters in football, the only logical move is to trade for a retired player.
If nothing else, they’re looking to field a 20’s version of the Washington Redskins “Over the Hill Gang”.
Miami doesn’t even have much over the hill talent. They just have a terrible lack of talent on rookie contracts.
“Waller cited a waning passion for the game” as one reason for retiring. That pretty much sums up Miami’s approach to player recruitment these days
Sounds like a perfect addition for a self-described soft team that quits in cold weather.
Delusional move by the dolphins. He was already checked out 2 years ago when he went m.i.a. from the raiders on a bye instead of rehabbing to get back. He self admittedly was checked out during last season.
Why does he only want to play in Miami?
It’s a beautiful retirement community.
Honestly this is awesome. I love Waller, and he hasn’t had a legit QB in a long time.
I guess he can still stick around like Jimmy Graham did.
I like this move a lot. Waller left because he lost his love for the game. The fact that he only wants to play for Miami says to me he is at least a little bit motivated. And from what I’ve read, he’s kept himself in shape, though possibly not FB shape.
5 years removed from a season you would consider good. Might as well give Anthony Fasano a call.
Dolphin fans…..you guys ok?
Call your dolphin fan friends right now. They need a friend.
Plot twist!!!!
This dude has looked ‘done’ for a few seasons now, thus I would have just let the Giants cut him. Not worth a pick of any kind…
Actually really like this move for Mia. Kinda weird seeing Grier make multiple good moves on consecutive days. Go Fins!