Darren Waller was one of the great finds the Raiders have made in the 21st century. He went from a practice squad player for the Baltimore Ravens to one of the best tight ends in the NFL seemingly overnight.
This led to the Raiders paying a huge contract two years ago before trading him to the New York Giants last offseason. After one season with Big Blue, Waller decided to retire from the NFL at 31. However, his career may have ended differently had he not been traded. Waller was a guest on "The Rush with Maxx Crosby" and he opened up about how much the trade factored into his decision.
"I don't know, man," Waller said when asked if he would've retired had he not been traded. "I definitely loved being in Vegas. I'm willing to give everything I got here. You could make the case that yeah, it'd be different. ... I kinda got to accept reality how it is. ... I would've loved to stay in Vegas. I'm riding for the city."
Waller had a great run with the Raiders but a hamstring injury caused him to decline quickly. Former general manager Dave Ziegler was panned at the time of the trade but considering Waller still dealt with injury issues in 2023 and decided to retire, it's hard to fault the decision in hindsight.
That said, there is a scenario where Waller stays in Las Vegas, gets healthy and returns to form. That would've saved the Raiders a second-round pick on Michael Mayer last year and a first-round pick on Brock Bowers this year.
The future of tight end is very bright for the Raiders but they've had to give up a lot of assets to make it happen. That said, there's no guarantee Waller would've still been a top-three tight end has he stayed in Las Vegas. Regardless, it's hard not to think about what could've been.