Tight end Darren Waller coming out of retirement, traded to Miami Dolphins
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Tight end Darren Waller coming out of retirement, traded to Miami Dolphins
Darren Waller is being traded to the Miami Dolphins, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported. The New York Giants, whom Waller last played for in 2023, are on the other end of the deal. Waller agreed to a one-year deal with the Dolphins that’s worth up to $5 million, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said. The one-time Pro Bowler retired last June after eight NFL seasons, but now he’s back in the league after aOne-year hiatus, Waller will turn 33 in September. The Dolphins are adding Waller a day after trading tight end Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a blockbuster deal. The Giants are giving up a conditional 2027 seventh-round pick, but, in return, New York is receiving a 2026 sixth-roundpick from Miami, the NFL Network reported. He will now headline a Dolphins tight end room that also includes an eighth-year journeyman in Pharaoh Brown and a third-year player in Julian Hill.
The New York Giants, whom Waller last played for in 2023, are on the other end of the deal with the Dolphins. In addition to Waller, the Giants are giving up a conditional 2027 seventh-round pick, but, in return, New York is receiving a 2026 sixth-round pick from Miami, according to Pelissero.
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ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Waller agreed to a one-year deal with the Dolphins that’s worth up to $5 million.
Waller will turn 33 in September. The one-time Pro Bowler retired last June after eight NFL seasons, but now he’s back in the league after a one-year hiatus.
The Dolphins are adding Waller a day after trading tight end Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Smith was part of a blockbuster deal that also sent seven-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Steelers. In exchange, Miami got back five-time Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who spent his first two NFL seasons with the Dolphins in 2018-19.
Smith was highly productive during his lone season in Miami, earning his first Pro Bowl nod. The 2017 third-round pick — who previously played for the Tennessee Titans (2017-20), New England Patriots (2021-22) and Atlanta Falcons (2023) — caught 88 passes for 884 receiving yards, both the most by a tight end in Dolphins single-season history, plus notched a team-best eight receiving touchdowns.
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Only Brock Bowers of the Las Vegas Raiders, Trey McBride of the Arizona Cardinals and George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers ranked ahead of Smith in tight end receiving yards last season.
Notably, Smith skipped Miami’s offseason practices while searching for a new contract.
Waller will now headline a Dolphins tight end room that also includes an eighth-year journeyman in Pharaoh Brown and a third-year player in Julian Hill — who have a combined 90 receptions in their careers — as well as former undrafted free agents Tanner Conner, Hayden Rucci and Jalin Conyers.
Waller decided to retire from football last June, ahead of Giants mandatory minicamp.
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At the time, the 2015 sixth-round pick addressed his decision in a YouTube video. He mentioned his divorce from WNBA star Kelsey Plum and unpacked an off-the-field medical scare he experienced during the 2023 season that he said forced him to re-evaluate things.
While Waller didn’t share his diagnosis or what his medical condition was, he described how he ended up spending three-and-a-half days in a hospital midway through the 2023 season. It occurred while he was away from the team dealing with a hamstring injury he suffered in Week 8 against the New York Jets.
“Last season in New Jersey, we played the Jets on October 29,” Waller said in the video. “I got hurt that game. The following week, the Giants were playing the Raiders in Vegas. … I started to feel like this fever coming on. … The fever starts to build, I start to get the chills and stuff like that. By the time I pull into my parking garage at my condo and get out of the car, I’m, like, shaking pretty violently, like uncontrollably.”
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Waller said he “couldn’t breath” in his bed the next morning. That’s when he called 911, the paramedics responded, and he started his hospital stay.
“The worst possible thing for … somebody like me would be to think that I am supposed to choose one lane of life, one path and stick with it like most of the world does,” Waller said in the video.
Close to 13 months later, Waller is returning to the NFL.
He started 12 games for the Giants in 2023. That season, he reeled in 52 passes for 522 receiving yards and a touchdown. Although he began his career with the Baltimore Ravens in 2015, he’s best known for his five-season run with the Raiders from 2018-22.
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Waller was suspended twice with the Ravens for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. His second suspension cost him the entire 2017 season.
With the Raiders, though, Waller emerged as a star who was vocal about the steps he had taken to overcome his struggle with substance abuse.
He stitched together back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons in 2019-20 and made the Pro Bowl in the second of those two breakout campaigns. In 2020, Waller logged 107 receptions, 1,196 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns.
Waller has yet to tally more than 665 receiving yards in a season since.
Darren Waller Contract, Salary, and Net Worth: Breaking Down Details on TE’s Stunning Trade to Dolphins
Darren Waller has agreed to a one-year deal with the Miami Dolphins worth up to $5 million. The 32-year-old former Pro Bowler retired last summer after spending one season in New York. The move comes as a surprise given Waller’s retirement announcement last summer. The 6-foot-6 tight end started slowly in Baltimore, earning less than $600,000 over his first four NFL seasons. The Georgia Tech product has earned more than $42 million in his eight-year career. The trade sends a conditional 2026 sixth-round pick to New York in exchange for Waller and a 2027 seventh-round selection. The Dolphins traded away Pro Bowl tight end Jonnu Smith on Monday.
Darren Waller Returns From Retirement in Trade With Miami Dolphins
NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported Tuesday morning that Waller is part of a trade between the Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders. The move comes as a surprise given Waller’s retirement announcement last summer after spending one season in New York.
Surprise! The #Dolphins are finalizing a trade with the #Giants for former Pro Bowl TE Darren Waller, who is coming out of retirement to play in Miami, per sources. A fascinating twist for Waller, who retired last summer, and a new weapon for a team that just traded Jonnu Smith. pic.twitter.com/MDO2XnHClb
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 1, 2025
Miami receives a proven veteran who posted back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons during his prime with the Las Vegas Raiders. Waller’s best campaign came in 2020 when he caught 107 passes for 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns. That performance earned him Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors while setting a franchise record for receptions in a season by a tight end. Brock Bowers has since broken that mark with 112 catches in 2024.
The timing works perfectly for Miami, which needed to replace Smith’s production after sending him to Pittsburgh as part of the blockbuster trade that also involved cornerback Jalen Ramsey and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Waller Contract Details, Career Earnings
The trade sends a conditional 2026 sixth-round pick to New York in exchange for Waller and a 2027 seventh-round selection. NFL insider Adam Schefter reports that Waller has agreed to a one-year deal with Miami worth up to $5 million.
Trade: Dolphins are trading a conditional 2026 sixth to the New York Giants for a 2027 seventh-round pick and Darren Waller. Waller is coming out of retirement after agreeing to a one-year deal with the Dolphins worth up to $5 million, per Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 1, 2025
The new contract adds to Waller’s already substantial career earnings. The 6-foot-6 tight end started slowly in Baltimore, earning less than $600,000 over his first four NFL seasons. After his rookie deal, Waller signed with the Raiders in 2018 on a two-year contract worth $675,000 annually.
His breakout 2019 season changed everything as he eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for the first time. The performance led to a four-year extension with Las Vegas that paid him $7.45 million per season. Waller then signed his largest contract in 2022, a three-year, $51 million extension that made him one of the highest-paid tight ends in the league.
Throughout his eight-year career, Waller has earned more than $42 million. Now the Georgia Tech product gets another chance to prove his worth in Miami as the Dolphins try to return to playoff contention after missing the postseason in 2024.