The New York Giants have acquired former Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders.
UPDATED TERMS: Giants are sending the Raiders a 2023 3rd round pick in exchange for Darren Waller. (via @RapSheet, @TomPelissero)
— NFL (@NFL) March 14, 2023
Waller signed a three-year, $51 million contract extension with the Raiders in September 2022, but the 30-year-old had his second straight injury-riddled campaign in last year. Waller had back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons in 2019 and 2020, before missing six games in 2021.
Last season was even worse, as he posted just 28 receptions for 388 yards and three touchdowns on 43 targets, while playing in just nine games.
Tuesday's trade somewhat contradicts Las Vegas head coach Josh McDaniels' quotes on Waller from late February at the NFL combine, when he said that the Georgia Tech product would be "a big part of what we do going forward."
What may be a significant loss for the Raiders could be a big gain for the Giants, and finally gives quarterback Daniel Jones a dominant downfield target. If healthy, Waller has top-three tight end upside and can take some of the load off of stud running back Saquon Barkley.
Waller could also provide incoming second-year tight end Daniel Bellinger with a veteran mentor next season.
Darren Waller and Daniel Bellinger is a pretty darn good TE room for the Giants.
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) March 14, 2023
Darren Waller has more career seasons with 1,000+ receiving yards (2) than all other tight ends in @Giants history combined.
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) March 14, 2023
Mark Bavaro holds the franchise TE record with 1,001 receiving yards in 1986. https://t.co/vjg3h2i4FX
The #Giants won 9 games last year with Daniel Jones only throwing 15 touchdowns, leading a wide receiving corps that featured few NFL caliber receivers.
— Matt Lombardo (@MattLombardoNFL) March 14, 2023
Trading for Darren Waller is a big investment on Jones reaching his $40M potential, a move that closes the NFC East gap a bit
People are asking why the return on Waller (the 100th pick) is so low. It's relatively simple. He's pretty expensive (though it's not crazy), he's been hurt a lot the last two years, and he turns 31 in September.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 14, 2023
That said, this has a shot to be a home run for the Giants. https://t.co/Up5qhW6Zub
Since the newly extended Jones took over as New York's starter in 2019, the team hasn't had a receiver even reach 800 yards through the air in a season. Darius Slayton posted back-to-back campaigns with over 700 receiving yards in 2019 and 2020 and then had a team-high 724 yards in 2022.
There've been huge swings and misses (Kenny Golladay) and tantalizing young talents fall short of expectations due to injuries (Kadarius Toney). Though Waller is an injury-risk, this seems like as good of a chance Jones and the Giants will get to start airing it out next season.
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