The NFL world was rocked on June 30 when it was announced that the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off a blockbuster trade that led to Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith heading to the Steelers, and Minkah Fitzpatrick returning to the Dolphins.
Read more: Darren Waller Shockingly Ends Retirement to Play for Dolphins
A rare player swap was enacted in the trade, and the Dolphins were left with a big roster hole at the tight end position. The team was clearly not done with shocking deals, and it was announced that former Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants star tight end Darren Waller was ending his retirement to play in Miami.
Waller officially retired in June 2024 and announced he would pursue a career in music. Now, the tight end is officially a member of the Dolphins.
NFL super agent Drew Rosenhaus has now revealed new details on the shocking events and states why Waller chose to end his retirement for Miami.
Drew Rosenhaus says that he got a phone call from his client, Darren Waller, saying that he wanted to come out of retirement & play for the Dolphins. He then called up Giants GM Joe Schoen to orchestrate a deal. @DrewJRosenhaus adding that he did a similar deal for Rob Gronkowski… pic.twitter.com/SlMYqKhoT1
— Josh Moser (@TheMozKnowz) July 7, 2025
Rosenhaus joined Josh Moser, where he broke down the call he recevied, which led to Waller ending his retirement after one year to return to the NFL.
“It was amazing. I got a phone call last Friday, the last week of June from Darren. He said, ‘Drew, I have decided that I want to play again. I miss football, I’ve got the itch to play, and the love of the game is back. I would like to play for the Miami Dolphins.’ To Joe Schoen’s credit and Chris Grier’s credit, those two got together and quickly worked out a deal, compensation-wise. For the Dolphins, this was terrific timing. After losing Jonnu Smith to add Darren Waller to the mix was very fortunate,” Rosenhaus stated.
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Waller not only called Rosenhaus to help him get a deal to play, but he also made it a point to play for the Dolphins.
A huge reason for the deal with the Dolphins likely has to do with offensive coordinator Frank Smith, who served as the tight ends coach for the Raiders from 2018 to 2020, when Waller had breakout seasons in 2019 and 2020.
Waller previously stated he would only end his retirement to either play for Jon Gruden or Smith, which he stated on a show with Gruden.
Considering Smith is now running the offense for the Dolphins, it appears that the proverbial stars aligned for Waller to return. There is some sizable risk involved for Miami, as they do not know what level of production they can get from Waller.
Waller’s final season in 2023 saw him post 552 yards and one touchdown. Those are nowhere near terrible stats, but Jonnu Smith secured 884 yards and eight touchdowns with the Dolphins in 2024.
Waller has some big shoes to fill, but if he can return to any kind of form that he was in during the 2019 and 2020 seasons, then the Dolphins got a huge star on their offense.
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