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Darren Waller is considering retirement
The 2025 Miami Dolphins season was a disappointment as they finished below .500 for the second consecutive season, which resulted in the team firing their coaching staff. The Dolphins roster that led them to the playoffs in 2022 and 2023 had seen many of its star players leave in free agency. The Dolphins were forced to think of creative ways to replenish their roster, and while they had some success, it was not enough to save general manager Chris Grier’s job.
One of those creative solutions the Dolphins had was signing Jonnu Smith prior to the 2024 season. He arrived in Miami and thrived under head coach Mike McDaniel. With the Dolphins, Smith set a career high in receptions and receiving yards in a season en route to earning a Pro Bowl nod. However, his strong performance led him to seek a pay raise, which the Dolphins were unwilling to give him. It resulted in Miami trading him to the Pittsburgh Steelers and once again finding a creative solution to replace him.
Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl Tight End Considering Retirement
To replace him, the Dolphins went with a player who spent the 2024 season retired. Darren Waller was brought out of retirement by the Dolphins as they exchanged a sixth-round pick with the New York Giants for his rights. After a season in which Waller totaled 283 receiving yards and six touchdowns, Waller went on South Beach Sessions with Dan Le Batard, where he detailed his experience coming out of retirement and his future in the NFL.
Le Batard asked Waller about his future in the NFL and whether he was considering retirement or possibly returning to the Miami Dolphins. Waller shared his thought process throughout the season, saying, “I could feel myself drifting back and forth between like, I feel like I could do this for however long. And then it’s like, you know, the injuries and the frustrations are like, I can’t keep doing this to myself.” He did not mention whether he was open to returning to the Dolphins. Prior to the team firing its coaching staff, he had said that if he were to return, he would like it to be for the Dolphins.
Waller’s 2025 Season
During the interview, the Pro Bowl tight end shared what the process was coming out of retirement and joining the Dolphins. Regarding coming out of retirement, Waller revealed that former Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith invited him to a Dolphins OTA practice as a guest. After that, conversations began between both sides and he agreed to come out of retirement. However, he admitted that he did not physically prepare for the physical toll of a regular season. He said, “I was not preparing myself in any way physically to come back to this.”
He was then asked about his expectations stepping back into football. Waller responded, “I didn’t have high expectations coming in. I was more so thinking that this opportunity has been organically presented to me to organically step back into football and kind of restore a sense of balance in the love I have for football, but also like there’s this the shadow part of me that hated football because it was what I used to gain validation and it wasn’t like outside of the authentic me.”
Waller did add that if he were to return, he would like to be better prepared physically coming into the season. During the 2025 season, he flashed his Pro Bowl talent, but injuries derailed most of his year with the Dolphins.
Jose Esquer Jose Esquer is a Mexican-American sportswriter and communications student based in San Diego, CA. His work spans football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. He has written for platforms like RotoWire and DolphinsTalk. You can find him on Twitter/X @JEsquer8, usually talking Dolphins, world football, or both. More about Jose Esquer
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