Giants, According to Rumors, Are Preparing for Darren Waller’s Imminent Retirement

It is possible that Darren Waller has played his last game in the NFL.

According to ESPN on Monday, the New York Giants are anticipating veteran tight end Darren Waller making a decision about his football future prior to the team starting minicamp on June 11th.

Waller will be 32 years old soon after the season begins in September. This off-season he has flirted with retirement. Rumors of him inclining towards retirement were rife during the NFL Draft in April when the New York Giants chose Theo Johnson, a Penn State Tight End early on in the fourth round.

Earlier this year, before the draft, Waller reportedly told The Times that he would commit until 2024. Nevertheless, just like how he had left it open for retirement again in an interview with The Athletic in April.

The Giants drafted Waller in 2023 hoping he would remain healthy and bolster their pass catching group by giving away their third-round pick in trade with Las Vegas Looters. However, Waller missed five games due to hamstring injury and finished with 52 catches for 552 yards and one touchdown. He also missed some games during 2022 season because of hamstring too.

Injury problems aside over the past two seasons, Waller went from one of the game’s best tight ends in 2019-21 after having an anomalous start to his career. The Baltimore Ravens drafted him in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft and played him as a wide receiver. Converting to tight end in 2016, he was suspended for four games under NFL’s substance abuse policy. For violating substance abuse policy again, he was suspended for entire season 2017.

When Ravens deferred Waller in 2018, he then joined the Looters. In 2019, he went through most of that year on their hone squad before developing, and recorded 90 receptions for 1,145 yards and three touchdowns. The next year, he had followed it by recording one hundred seven catches for one thousand one hundred ninety-six yards and nine touchdowns in twenty-twenty therefore earning his first as well as only Master Bowl gesture.