Darren Waller says he hasn’t decided if he will continue to play. The Giants previously have indicated they intend to have him back, but it’s reasonable to wonder if they might rethink that decision. If Waller isn’t even sure he wants to play, what is the likelihood that he’ll be willing to dig down and put in the work necessary to get back to being a difference maker?
Waller was a franchise-type option for the Raiders a few years back. In the 2019-20 seasons, only one tight end (Travis Kelce) caught more passes.
But Waller will be 32 in September, and he hasn’t been the same player the last three seasons, in part because of injuries. He’s missed 6, 8 and 5 games the last three years. He’s landed on IR with hamstring injuries in each of the last two season. He has a base salary of $10.5 million for the upcoming season, and presumably the Raiders are happy to have that off their books. They drafted a tight end a year ago (Michael Mayer) who looks like he’ll be a lot better and more reliable.
Even setting aside injuries, Waller hasn’t been the same player. In 32 games in the 2019-20 seasons, he caught 197 passes for 2,346 yards and 12 touchdowns. In 32 games since that time, he’s caught 62 fewer passes for 741 fewer yards, and with half as many touchdowns.
| LEADING TIGHT ENDS, PER GAME (2019-20) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | St | No | Yds | TD | PPR |
| 1. | Travis Kelce | 31 | 6.5 | 85.5 | .56 | 18.4 |
| 2. | George Kittle | 22 | 6.0 | 78.5 | .32 | 15.8 |
| 3. | Darren Waller | 32 | 6.2 | 73.3 | .39 | 15.8 |
| 4. | Mark Andrews | 29 | 4.2 | 53.6 | .59 | 13.1 |
| 5. | Austin Hooper | 26 | 4.7 | 47.0 | .40 | 11.7 |
| 6. | Hunter Henry | 26 | 4.4 | 48.7 | .36 | 11.4 |
| 7. | Zach Ertz | 26 | 4.8 | 48.1 | .29 | 11.4 |
| 8. | Robert Tonyan | 16 | 3.3 | 36.6 | .69 | 11.0 |
| 9. | Evan Engram | 24 | 4.5 | 48.1 | .21 | 10.5 |
| 10. | Jared Cook | 29 | 2.8 | 41.7 | .55 | 10.2 |
| LEADING TIGHT ENDS, PER GAME (2021-23) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | St | No | Yds | TD | PPR |
| 1. | Travis Kelce | 48 | 6.1 | 71.8 | .57 | 16.8 |
| 2. | Mark Andrews | 42 | 5.4 | 65.5 | .52 | 15.0 |
| 3. | George Kittle | 45 | 4.4 | 59.9 | .51 | 13.5 |
| 4. | T.J. Hockenson | 44 | 5.5 | 55.8 | .36 | 13.3 |
| 5. | Dallas Goedert | 41 | 4.1 | 51.8 | .25 | 10.8 |
| 6. | Dalton Schultz | 47 | 4.1 | 43.0 | .39 | 10.8 |
| 7. | Evan Engram | 49 | 4.8 | 43.6 | .23 | 10.5 |
| 8. | Darren Waller | 32 | 4.2 | 50.2 | .19 | 10.4 |
| 9. | Zach Ertz | 34 | 4.4 | 39.9 | .31 | 10.2 |
| 10. | David Njoku | 46 | 3.8 | 43.2 | .30 | 9.9 |
It will be an uphill climb, it seems, for Waller to re-emerge as one of the top few players at his position, and he doesn’t seem like a guy who’s determined to put in the work to make that happen. He told the New York Post on Friday that he’s undecided if he’ll even play. “I have not made a decision either way,” he says.
It doesn’t look great. Waller got married about a year ago, along with releasing a rap album. He might be ready to move onto other things, and his body might not be quite what it used to be.
If Waller returns, he’ll count $14 million against the cap. If the Giants release him, it will involve a dead cap charge of $7.9 million. Unless Waller convinces them that he’s invested in turning things around, that might be a route that the team starts considering more seriously.
—Ian Allan