Why Agent Didn't Close Door on Waller Return to Miami (and Why It's a Long Shot)

Darren Waller apparently has made his decision and indeed will continue playing after his comeback with the Miami Dolphins in 2025, though the question now becomes what team will employ him next season.

Waller will become an unrestricted free agent Wednesday after his restructured contract with the Dolphins following his trade acquistion from the New York Giants last summer expired, and his agent Drew Rosenhaus said he was open to the idea of returning to Miami for a second season.

This is where we ask everyone to evaluate Rosenhaus' comments on his weekly appearance on the WSVN Sunday sports show with Josh Moser carefully.

"Certainly haven't ruled anything out," Rosenhaus said. "I can say that he will make it to free agency (Monday). I do anticipate that Darren will be a coveted player and one of the most sought-after tight ends in free agency. Darren had a rejuvenated season with the Dolphins. He was really productive. The games that he missed due to injury fortunately were not serious injuries, so he finished the season 100% healthy, and the year that he had last year and really projects to have an even bigger year."

Notice how Rosenhaus didn't use a pronoun when he talked about not ruling anything out, and that sounds as much strategic as a simple manner of speaking because we'd suggest that Waller (through Rosenhaus) are the ones not ruling out the Dolphins because, frankly, why would they eliminate a team if it turns out that Waller doesn't get any offers he likes from another team?

The reality is that the Dolphins signing Waller to anything other than a veteran minimum contract makes little sense given where they are as an organization (rebuilding) and their cap situation (bad) — and that applies to just about any notable veteran free agent.

Waller is a tough decision for any front office because of his lengthy injury history — he was limited to nine games last season — and the fact he came out of retirement to join the Dolphins last year.

It's also a pretty good group of free agent tight ends, with others on the market ranging from Travis Kelce to David Njoku, Dallas Goedert and Zack Ertz.

SIZING UP SMITH'S VALUE

Another tight end who's now available is another Rosenhaus client, Jonnu Smith, who the Pittsburgh Steelers recently a couple of days ago one season after they acquired him in the Dolphins trade involving Minkah Fitzpatrick and Jalen Ramsey.

Smith had a very difficult season with the Steelers, who simply didn't use him very much because they had two other good tight end options with Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington, leaving one to wonder why they asked for him in the Ramsey trade and why they gave him a new contract after the trade.

But Smith was very productive for the Dolphins in 2024 when not only was he the top receiving option at tight end for Miami but the passing game began a steady diet of dump-offs and screens as the downfield element all but disappeared.

It's that Smith that Rosenhaus wants teams to remember now that his client is free to sign at any time.

"Jonnu is still in the prime of his career," Rosenhaus told Moser. "He's healthy, he's incredibly versatile. Everyone here saw what he's capable of, so we're excited about it. I think he's going to have a robust market."

Again, nobody ever should expect an agent to say anything other than expecting a robust market — because "I think it's going to be tough to get him any kind of money" would get an agent fired pretty quickly — but that's debatable.

And, as with Waller, the Dolphins aren't in a position where it would make sense to offer a tight end who'll be 31 in August good money when they need to rebuild their roster.