Veteran tight end Darren Waller surprised many in early July when he informed the New York Giants of his plans to unretire, but only if they shipped him off to the Miami Dolphins.
The Giants obliged.
General manager Joe Schoen traded Waller and a conditional 2027 seventh-round pick to Miami in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
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But that deal is not entirely set in stone. Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports that if Waller records 50-plus receptions in 2025, the Giants will recoup their seventh-round pick in the 2027 NFL draft.
In 12 games (11 starts) with New York, Waller recorded 52 receptions for 552 yards and one touchdown, so it is plausible he produces similar numbers with the Dolphins, and the Giants get their pick back.
Waller initially informed the Giants of his retirement in June 2024, a year removed from the team acquiring him in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders. However, he later revealed that his initial decision to retire came much sooner than that.
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“I knew I was retiring when we played in Buffalo,” Waller said on The Side You Don’t See podcast. “It was a game where it was really controversial because one of the guys held me at the end, and they didn’t call it.
“It was in the first quarter of the game. We were running this counter lead running play, and I’m kind of like leading through the hole like I’m a fullback, and the play is working. But I sit down on the sideline after like a drive where we ran like three times and I’m like, what the (expletive) am I doing with my life? I’m out here playing fullback. I don’t even want to do this (expletive) anymore.”
What changed in Waller’s mind is unclear.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants could recoup draft pick from Miami if Darren Waller produces