The Darren Waller Trade Proves the Dolphins Have No Plan
The Miami Dolphins are back in the headlines for the second day in a row—this time for acquiring former Giants and Raiders tight end Darren Waller, who’s coming out of retirement to join the team.
Miami is sending a sixth-round and conditional seventh-round pick in exchange for Waller, who retired ahead of the 2024 season (and pursued a rap career – it wasn’t good). In 2019 and 2020, Waller posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, but dropped significantly in production since – failing to reach 700 yards in any of the remaining three seasons he played in.
This move comes just one day after the Dolphins traded Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith to the Steelers for Minkah Fitzpatrick and a seventh-round pick.
That’s where the questions start.
Jonnu Smith quietly had a productive 2024 season with nearly 900 receiving yards. He’s younger, healthier, and signed for a bargain $3.4 million base salary with the Steelers yesterday. There’s been no announcement yet on what Miami will pay Waller, but it’s unlikely to be much cheaper than Smith.
So why move on from Smith only to bring in Waller the next day?
From a football standpoint, it’s hard to justify. Waller’s peak was five seasons ago, and while he still has name recognition, recent production hasn’t matched it. Jonnu Smith, by contrast, was a reliable option in 2024 and already familiar with the system.
Even the trade for Minkah Fitzpatrick raises eyebrows. He’s still a solid player, but he’s recorded just one interception over the past two seasons. If this deal was meant to be a win-now move, the pieces don’t seem to line up.
It’s the latest in a series of confusing decisions from the Dolphins front office. Last offseason, they signed Tua Tagovailoa to a massive contract extension despite concerns about injuries and inconsistency. Tyreek Hill’s new deal also reset the market, but Miami hasn’t seen any postseason return on that investment.
When you factor in these latest trades, there’s a fair question to be asked: Is this a team with a clear plan, or are they just making moves for the sake of making moves?
Time will tell—but right now, Miami looks less like a contender and more like a franchise drifting into the kind of dysfunction we usually associate with teams like the Jets, Panthers, or Browns.