After trading Pro Bowl tight end Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, the Miami Dolphins added a former Pro Bowl tight end to their roster on Tuesday.
Darren Waller retired last offseason, but he’s returning to the NFL to play for Miami in 2025. The Dolphins sent a sixth-round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft to the New York Giants for Waller and a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. While the teams have not announced the deal, the New York Post, NFL Network and ESPN reported the details.
Waller had 52 receptions for 552 yards and one touchdown for the Giants in 2023, the most recent of his eight NFL seasons.
In 2020, Waller earned Pro Bowl recognition when he had 107 receptions for 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns for the Las Vegas Raiders. In 86 NFL regular-season games, Waller had 350 receptions for 4,124 yards and 20 touchdowns.
In his eighth NFL season, Smith earned Pro Bowl recognition for the first time in 2024, when he caught 88 passes for 884 yards and eight touchdowns. In 124 NFL regular-season games, Smith has 307 receptions for 3,307 yards and 28 touchdowns.
On Monday, Miami traded Smith, cornerback Jalen Ramsey and a seventh-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft to the Steelers for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and a fifth-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Waller will join the tight end targets for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa already on the Dolphins’ roster – Pharaoh Brown, Tanner Conner, Jalin Conyers, Julian Hill and Hayden Rucci.
In 2024, Brown had eight receptions for 65 yards for the Seattle Seahawks, and Hill had 12 receptions for 100 yards and Conner had three receptions for 16 yards for Miami. Conyers is a rookie, and Rucci was on the Dolphins’ practice squad last season.
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