Report: New York Giants Offensive Weapon Mulling Retirement Weeks Before 2024 NFL Draft

Star tight end Darren Waller’s offseason decision has to weigh heavily on general manager Joe Schoen’s mind this month. Per GH records, Warren said in early March this offseason he was going to consider retiring before the upcoming season:

The former Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens TE revealed in an interview with The Athletic, he revealed that the reason for his contemplation is the fact that he’s not fully bought into playing another season of NFL football.

Giants Wire’s John Fennelly writes about his though process as well as the financial repercussions of his decision:

“I’m undecided at the moment,” Waller told The Athletic. “It’s really the idea of signing up for another journey. It’s tough, it’s long, it requires a lot. And if you’re not fully bought into every single thing of the process, it’s going to be tough. I feel like at the end of the day, you’re doing guys a disservice if you’re not all the way in. So those are the kinds of things I’m taking into account.”

If Waller calls it quits he will be owed a base salary of $10.5 million which accounts for a cap hit of $14 million. If he opts to retire, the Giants will clear $6.2 million in cap space but be left with a dead cap hit of roughly $7.9 million.

Not much has changed in a month.

Darren Waller is still considering retirement

Per DJ Siddiqi with Forbes, Waller said in an article published on April 4 that he has not made his decision about retiring this offseason:

“I haven’t made a decision yet,” Waller said during a sit down one-on-one interview while speaking on behalf of his partnership with Icy Hot. “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.”

At 31, the Pro Bowl tight end doesn’t have much to prove in the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens’ 2015 sixth-round pick has overachieved what many scouts thought he could accomplish in the league.

The tight end position is one of football’s most physically demanding positions, so one would understand if he wanted to hang up his cleats. After all, Waller is the age he should be ring-chasing. The Giants are a few years away from competing for a Super Bowl.

Waller has been through a lot in a year

Waller said he’s been through a lot in the previous few years. He said moving to New York following his trade from the Las Vegas Raiders last offseason was a difficult adjustment in terms of being a human in a new city.

If Waller returns to the Giants, he wants to make sure he can give it his all:

“I’m at the point now where I’m like, ‘OK, how much am I willing to give to the process,’” says Waller. “If it’s not 100%, it’s a disservice to the teammates and the organization that I have. I’m still trying to make a decision on that and it’s tough to make one or the other out of emotion.”

Waller’s retirement would be a disservice to a rookie quarterback, regardless.