The Miami Dolphins were the only team that crossed Darren Waller's mind after the tight end recently decided to come out of retirement, according to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus.
Waller initially called it a career after playing the 2023 season for the New York Giants. Once the 32-year-old decided to extend his NFL journey, Rosenhaus said it was easy for N.Y. to work on a trade with the tight end-needy Dolphins.
"I got a phone call last Friday, the last week of June, from Darren, and he said, 'Drew, I've decided that I want to play again. I miss football, I've got the itch to play, the love of the game is back, and I'd like to play for the Miami Dolphins,'" Rosenhaus recently told Josh Moser of Sports Xtra while explaining Waller's unexpected return.
"To (Giants general manager) Joe Schoen's credit and (Dolphins GM) Chris Grier's credit, those two got together and quickly worked out a deal."
Miami and New York reportedly agreed to a trade July 1. The Dolphins officially announced the deal July 7, adding Waller and a 2027 conditional seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round selection.
Waller could be a clutch addition for the Dolphins, who had questions at the tight end position after trading Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers on June 30. A two-time 1,000-yard TE, Waller finished 2023 with 52 catches for 552 yards and one touchdown in 12 games.
This wasn't the first time Rosenhaus had seen one of his clients come out of retirement and request a trade immediately. Legendary tight end Rob Gronkowski also left the New England Patriots to play with Tom Brady on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after one season out of the league.
"This was a very similar scenario," Rosenhaus said. "When Gronk told me he was coming out of retirement, but he only wanted to play for Tampa, we had to work out a trade between Tampa and the Patriots. Going through that with Gronkowski really helped related to Darren deciding he was coming out of retirement and only wanted to play for the Dolphins."
