Darren Waller dropped a major hint to how his Dolphins career is going to start during his introductory press conference
The Miami Dolphins' approach to the tight end position this offseason has raised some eyebrows. After seeing a breakout, career year from tight end Jonnu Smith, the Dolphins stiff-armed Smith's bid for a contract extension and a pay raise. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. 24 hours later, formerly retired tight end Darren Waller was […]
The Miami Dolphins' approach to the tight end position this offseason has raised some eyebrows. After seeing a breakout, career year from tight end Jonnu Smith, the Dolphins stiff-armed Smith's bid for a contract extension and a pay raise. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
24 hours later, formerly retired tight end Darren Waller was returned in a low-risk trade with the New York Giants. Waller, who played one season in New York after a breakout stretch with the Raiders playing under now-Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith, signed a one-year contract valued at $2 million with incentives up to $5 million.
Waller will open 2025 training camp with the Dolphins on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. But based on Waller's comments on Tuesday, it doesn't appear to be anything Dolphins fans need to be concerned about.
Darren Waller appears to have hinted at placement on the PUP list during press conference
Waller designated on the PUP list when the Dolphins announced their daily transactions at 4PM EST. But he spoke to the media before then and, in hindsight, certainly teased that his on-boarding process with the Dolphins amid a return from retirement was going to require special planning and that Miami has worked to form that process in the build-up to training camp.
“It’s a journey, man. A lot of, my body is like ‘oh we’re doing this again, we’re doing these movements again.’ It just takes time, you know? So, me and the plan that these guys have for me for training camp, it may look a lot different than a lot of guys because it is a different situation. I have been in shape and doing a lot of crazy different workout things in my retirement but it hasn’t been football-specific movements. So there needs to be a solid foundation that’s laid before you can just go out there and — I’m going to want to go out there and go 120%. Sometimes you gotta save me from myself.” – Darren Waller on his conditioning & on-boarding to the Dolphins
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The contrast is fascinating. Because while Waller, in a perfect world, would have all the time in the world to get himself in shape and prepped for the season, the Dolphins are operating on a different timeline and this is an offense that can ill-afford to start slow. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has talked in the past about the importance of timing and chemistry within the offense — how Waller works on those elements while building up his football calluses will be critical to Waller's ability to impact this team in 2025.
But for Dolphins fans who were worried to see Waller designated on the PUP list amid his injury background, it appears as though you have nothing to worry about in that regard. This appears to be all part of the plan.
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