Stay or Go for Dolphins Free Agent TE Darren Waller

The Miami Dolphins have a big offseason ahead with first-time general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley.

One of the first things they’ll have to decide on is the team’s 29 internal free agents. That is not a small number, and the Dolphins already have a ton of roster needs. Every player who isn’t brought back just adds another to the list.

With that in mind, we will break down Miami’s top internal free agents and try to decide whether they should stay or go. Let’s talk about Darren Waller.

Why the Dolphins Should Re-Sign Darren Waller

The main argument for bringing Waller back for 2026 is that he was quite good when he was on the field.

He caught 24 of his 34 targets for 286 yards and six touchdowns. Waller’s EPA per target of 0.84 would be the league’s best mark among pass catchers, if Waller played enough games to qualify.

He was awesome in the red zone and was practically the only player on the team capable of high-pointing a pass and coming down with it.

The Dolphins still need a player with Waller’s size and skill set. Based on last season, it doesn’t seem like he’s really lost too much of his change-of-direction skills, either. The Dolphins' tight end room, in general, is pretty barren.

Fellow high-snap takers Greg Dulcich and Julian Hill will hit the market in some capacity. Hill is a restricted free agent, but Dulcich is an unrestricted free agent.

Another consideration is that Waller probably won’t cost much. He only played in nine games last season, is on the wrong side of 30, and he just came out of retirement to play in 2025.

It’s pretty unlikely that any team will give Waller a substantial deal this offseason, which could leave him in Miami’s limited range.

Why the Dolphins Should Let Waller Walk

There are many reasons it makes sense to let Waller leave this offseason. For starters, Waller’s injury history seems unavoiable at this point.

As mentioned above, he played in just nine games last season, continuing the consistent injury issues that contributed to his retirement. Waller’s been banged up for a while now, and he’s not getting any younger.

That’s the other half of this coin. The Dolphins worked hard to get younger last season, and even though there’s a new GM in town, it would be surprising to see that trend change. Waller is 33 and has already retired once, so he doesn’t exactly fit this team’s rebuilding timeline.

With that age and injury history, the Dolphins simply couldn’t rely on Waller to give them consistent reps.

He’s better than a decent number of tight ends still, but if a somewhat similar caliber of player appears in 17 games, it wouldn’t be too hard for them to outproduce Waller.

The last piece of the puzzle is that Waller is a pretty questionable scheme fit. Yes, the Dolphins retained Bobby Slowik, who was the passing game coordinator last year and has the same Shanahan-style roots.

However, Slowik’s play-calling career with the Texans featured a much more traditional Shanahan-style offense. When they used multiple tight ends, it was bigger players who at least looked like they could play in-line.

Of course, it’s still possible to find a spot for Waller and carve out a role for him. But if the Dolphins are rebuilding, and Waller isn’t their preferred prototype, there’s really no reason to force it.

Final Verdict on Waller

I would prefer the Dolphins to allocate tight end money to a different internal free agent (we’ll write about that soon) and add an outside player, whether that’s through the draft or free agency.

If Waller had played in more games last season, I’d be more open to bringing him back. But in a rebuilding year, reps are a premium. You have to turn over every rock imaginable to find young, contract-controlled starters.

Keeping Waller on the roster prevents the Dolphins from using one of three tight end spots to find a player who can be a long-term contributor. If Waller was at least on the field all the time and playing well, he could be a good veteran.

With that said, it would be silly to complain too much about the Dolphins getting Waller back on a league-minimum deal past June 1. They’ll have a lot more cap space by then (probably, at least), so if Waller is still available and wants to play, it wouldn’t be an awful move.

Miami should spend the offseason trying to find a younger option before that, though. If nothing materializes, then I’d be onboard with a reunion later in the summer.

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