Las Vegas Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler has been quite active in making roster moves since Monday. For one, Ziegler opted to trade Darren Waller to the New York Giants on Tuesday.
The Raiders sent Waller to the Giants in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Waller was just months removed from putting pen to paper on a three-year, $51 million extension deal with the Raiders. In the end, Las Vegas decided that it was best to part ways with Waller to create some much-needed cap space.
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Waller was not a regular in the trade rumor mill in the weeks before the start of this year’s free agency period. He was linked with the Green Bay Packers ahead of last season’s NFL trade deadline. The Raiders ultimately elected to decline the Packers’ offer of a second-round pick for the versatile tight end.
Waller was much looking forward to featuring for the Raiders in the 2023 campaign, and overall, he was a bit surprised by Ziegler’s call to trade him.
“I did not see this coming,” Waller said during his introductory press conference with the Giants. “I was getting ready to just do everything I could to make myself available for the Raiders and get ready for everything that was going to start in mid-April.
“It caught me off guard, but it's the nature of the business.”
Waller added that he did not leave the Raiders organization with any bad blood. Instead, he is much appreciative of the opportunity that the team gave him back in 2018.
“It's a lot of positive emotions – a lot of gratitude,” Waller said. “Like you said, getting a clean start, a clean slate with the Raiders was amazing for me. Moving to Vegas and setting up roots there and just getting involved with the community, making friends outside of football, and just great people inside the game of football, it's been a great place to continue to be home for me and my wife.
“Grateful for my time spent there.”
Waller was signed by the Raiders off the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad in Nov. 2018. The one-time Pro Bowler ended up featuring in five seasons with the AFC West side, where he tallied 286 receptions and 17 touchdown catches.
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