Darren Waller knows what this Giants trade comes down to: he has to stay healthy.
“Growth starts with being available as much as possible for the team,” the Giants’ new tight end said Wednesday at the team facility.
Waller has had a whirlwind week.
He got back from a tropical honeymoon on Monday, received a call from Raiders GM Dave Ziegler that he’d been traded on Tuesday, and arrived in East Rutherford, N.J., on Wednesday.
“I did not see this coming,” he said.
He passed his physical exam, a source said, making the trade from Vegas official.
“Yeah, nobody came and got me and kicked me out of the building yet, so I feel like I’m good,” Waller said with a smile when asked if he was all clear.
He knew that was a valid question, though, because it’s the big question surrounding the Giants’ shiniest new acquisition this week:
Can Waller, who missed 14 of the Raiders’ 34 games the past two seasons, stay on the field enough to help Daniel Jones take Brian Daboll’s offense to new heights?
“I believe wholeheartedly in myself, and I believe through action and consistent performance, Giants fans will believe, as well,” Waller said on Zoom. “They can have questions at this moment about my health. Those are legitimate concerns. But … I’m willing to be the best I can be, to be a weapon for this team …. to get to the next level it wants to go to.”
That all sounds great. Waller’s plan to stay more durable, however, was curious.
It sounds like he thinks that putting less stress on his body in the offseason is now the key, even though the way he became one of the NFL’s best receiving tight ends was by working harder than ever.
“I’m feeling great right now,” he said. “The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make going into this offseason is making sure I’m peaking at the right time. I feel like something that helped me elevate my game to such a high level was working myself so hard in those 2018, 2019, 2020 offseasons to where it [was] almost too hard, and that kind of became my norm.
“So now it’s about how do I become more efficient with it,” he added, “and making sure I’m peaking when the season starts — not showing up to training camp having worked so hard that I’m almost exhausted and that doesn’t set me up for success or the team for success.”
If Waller is looking for a reduced workload and maintenance days, he came to the right place.
Daboll and the Giants’ training staff dialed player practice workloads way back last spring, summer and fall. It didn’t exactly work to their benefit.
Soft tissue injuries roared through the team, including torn and strained ACLs and MCLs, and a rash of neck injuries hit, too. Ten of their 11 draft picks missed time due to injury.
The Giants finished as the NFL’s sixth most-injured team in 2022, per ManGamesLost.com.
They still made the playoffs at 9-7-1, thanks to a 6-1 start paced by strong defense and either competent or opportunistic offense.
But the point is that this trade for Waller, in exchange for a late third-round pick, only works if his body holds up like it hasn’t since the 2020 Covid season. And the Giants haven’t excelled at keeping players on the field lately.
A hamstring nagged Waller last season and sent him to injured reserve. He only played in nine games. His 2023 contract carries an $11 million salary, a $200,000 workout bonus and another $1.275 million in per-game roster bonuses.
So the hope is that Waller turns back the clock on his availability. To help him do that, he’ll have a familiar face in his corner: tight ends coach Andy Bischoff.
Bischoff was a Ravens quality control coach, offensive assistant and an assistant assigned to tight ends during Waller’s lowest time as a professional after being drafted by Baltimore in 2015.
Drug addiction got Waller suspended for the entire 2017 NFL season before the Ravens eventually released him in Nov. 2018.
But on Wednesday, he was able to have lunch with Bischoff and his dad at the Giants’ facility in a refreshing, full circle moment.
“He’s seen me in low moments, in moments where I was getting my foot back in the door and trying to be consistent and reliable as a member of the practice squad and organization,” Waller said. “To meet now and continue on this journey is a pretty cool thing.”
Waller said he is looking forward to playing for Daboll, citing the “high-octane offense” he saw when Daboll “was in Buffalo.” He admitted “there are moments where I haven’t performed as well as I would’ve liked,” and he’s hoping to be his best self this season.
It’s certainly encouraging that a guy who had 107 catches for 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns in 2020 is motivated to show his new team and fanbase that he can do that again.
Waller did note that while “it’s a bit of a curveball” to be traded across the country from his new wife, Kelsey Plum of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, one day after their honeymoon, “she supports me and wants to see me shine to my ultimate potential.”
In response to a tweet that Raiders coach Josh McDaniels had traded Waller as a wedding present, Plum tweeted: “Prolly cause he wasn’t invited to the wedding lol.”
“I’m grateful to have her support,” Waller said, “and we’re gonna do whatever it takes to remain strong together whatever the distance looks like, the timing of it.”
As far as timing goes, Waller said there haven’t been discussions yet about making this a longer-term relationship than just one trial season, with no guaranteed money in his contract past 2023. But he hopes his play will take care of that.
“I’m focussed on what I can do this offseason and this season,” he said. “Because without a successful this season, the future doesn’t really necessarily matter right now.”
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