It has been a month since Darren Waller announced that he would decide on retirement soon, and the New York Giants tight end stays in the air.
Waller, is several years removed from his consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He has a downtick in performance and an uptick in injuries leading him to contemplate his NFL future.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Waller recently told Forbes. “It’s just a matter of respecting the process. There’s so much that goes into the process of going from April through February of an NFL season. The commitment that it requires. I’m a guy who’s evolving, who’s growing, who’s played a lot of football and been through a lot.”
Waller played last year with New York after a trade from the Las Vegas Raiders, with whom he spent the past five seasons, after turning his life and career around to become a force at the tight end position.
He secured 197 catches for 2,341 yards and 12 touchdowns in 32 matches from 2019-2020. However, he suited up for only 11 contests in 2021, resulting in 665 yards and two scores on 55 catches. A new regime under Josh McDaniels took over for Las Vegas in 2022. Waller witnessed an injury-affected year where he gathered 388 receiving yards in nine matches before he was shipped out during the offseason.
The Tight End caught only one TD and collected 522 yards, with another five games lost to injury in 2023 for Big Blue.
It has been a grind that will only continue if Waller is all in.
“I’m at the point now where I’m like, ‘OK, how much am I willing to give to the process,'” Waller said. “If it’s not 100%, it’s a disservice to the teammates and the organization that I have. I’m still trying to decide on that and it’s tough to make one or the other out of emotion.”
Meanwhile, the Giants have taken precautions, strengthening the tight end room during free agency. New York signed Jack Stoll and Chris Manhertz in mid-March. Daniel Bellinger and Tyree Jackson are also on the roster from previous seasons. None of them is the calibre of player Waller is, but the position is well stocked three weeks out from the 2024 NFL Draft. The Giants could add at the position, no matter Waller’s decision.
Waller counts $14 million against the cap heading into 2024. If he should retire, New York would save $6.7 million but carry $7.4 million in dead money.
If he were to keep playing, he would realise an offence that ranked 30th in scoring last season desperately needs to build an identity as Daniel Jones returns from his ACL tear and the Giants experience life without Saquon Barkley.
“Offensively you have to find a way to form an identity,” Waller said. “Because there’s talented guys that can make plays. It’s just finding that identity and being consistent. We would have flashes, but nowhere near good enough to give ourselves a chance. I speak on that from an offensive standpoint, because I feel defensively, there were so many times they did enough for us to win.”
Waller is yet to choose if he wants to remain a part of shaping the Giants’ offensive identity.
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