Darren Waller tells Giants he is retiring
Darren Waller of the Giants celebrates his second-quarter touchdown reception against the Commanders at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 22, 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Darren Waller informed the Giants on Sunday that he is retiring.
The news was not unexpected, as the tight end had not participated in any of the team’s offseason programs.
“We have great respect for Darren as a person and player,” the Giants said in a statement. “We wish him nothing but the best.”
Reports first emerged at the NFL Combine this past winter that Waller was considering walking away.
When Giants coach Brian Daboll was asked about Waller at Thursday’s OTAs, he said he had communicated with him throughout the offseason, mostly by text message.
“When he makes his decision, he makes his decision,” Daboll said.
Waller, 31, spent one season with the Giants, recording 52 catches for 552 yards and one touchdown. The Giants acquired him from the Raiders for a third-round draft pick in March 2023.
With Waller off the books — and as a post-June 1 cut — the Giants gain about $11.9 million in salary cap space.
The Giants’ current depth chart at tight end is Daniel Bellinger, Lawrence Cager and rookie Theo Johnson out of Penn State, a fourth-round pick.
In two seasons, Bellinger has 55 receptions for 523 yards and two touchdowns.
In Waller’s only training camp with the Giants, he looked as if he could transform the offense. He was dominant, catching almost every ball thrown in his vicinity, and he provided hope.
But it was not to be.
Waller, who battled hamstring issues during much of his career, did so with the Giants, too, as he could not consistently stay on the field during the season.
Before joining the Giants, Waller spent the previous five seasons with the Raiders. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons for them and made the Pro Bowl in 2020, when he had 107 catches for 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
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