Will the Dolphins trade for Kmet or Andrews or Mayer? (1 Viewer)

[barackdhouse]

Rapping is expensive

And competitive.

He scratched his itch and is ready to come back to the NFL without that distraction in his head now. Too bad he is ~33 and all of the rest but there are other top tier TEs that are older right now and with much more mileage in general. I also don't think too highly of how the NYG have been approaching things lately and including when he was there. I don't think it's far fetched to think that he could make an impact in Miami.

 

[barackdhouse]

@socrates I think it's fair to say the Fins are speculating and you could definitely be right that he doesn't even make the roster.

 

[socrates]

@socrates I think it's fair to say the Fins are speculating and you could definitely be right that he doesn't even make the roster.

I am guessing it was a team friendly contract. I always liked Waller and hope this works out.

 

[Gatorman]

Miami may simply not be done, but if you want to nit pick here...

Basically Miami wants an inline TE that can scare the D a bit but the only guy that fits the bill is Kittle, and all the McShannahan teams are trying to find a Kittle. If you can't find a Kittle, then you go for the next best thing.

Waller and the "others" are what they will bring to Training camp. At the end of the day Miami wants to be a dominant zone run team that forces the safeties up so they can throw to Reek and Waddle. Smith was a product of Miami's inability to do that last year.

 

[JohnnyU]

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[travdogg]

I feel like many people are looking at the Waller move in the wrong way. Miami saved 7 million dollars and are scaling back the TE usage (which they should) Waller isn't going to be getting Jonnu's targets. He's there to give them a seam stretcher on passing downs, he's unlikely to be a 3-down player.

Waller won't be what he once was fantasy wise, or what Jonnu was last year, but this is a no-risk, potentially solid reward move by Miami. It cost nothing to do. Waller was still a pretty effective player in 2023 (though clearly not the elite player he was in prior seasons) who was asked to do the antithesis to his skill set. Ask him to run up the seam, and he'll be good at it, as long as he stays healthy. He's likely to be used closer to 2022 Mike Gesicki, who wasn't a full-time player (45%) for them.

Waller might be an iso weapon on redzone fades for them, especially if the interior OL doesn't get more push after the offseason additions, but Waller isn't being brought in to get the 111 targets Jonnu got. That's good news for Miami.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

@socrates I think it's fair to say the Fins are speculating and you could definitely be right that he doesn't even make the roster.

I would 2nd the motion that Socrates is posting, Waller might not even make the roster and if he does I highly doubt this 33 yr old(Sep) TE coming out of retirement because he lost everything in his divorce...anyone understand the actual angle here?

Francis Ford Coppola was forced to make Godfather Part 3 after he was taken to the cleaners in his divorce and you see the results in that venture with one of the GOAT behind the camera
Waller isn't anything close to Hall of Fame, he had 2 pretty strong seasons several years ago, has been avg to below that for a while now

I wouldn't assume Waller is the TE all year, also misses huge chunks of time during the season.

Darren Waller Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats for Darren Waller. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, college, draft, and more on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

Just look at the numbers since 2020...11 games, 6 games, 11 games, NO Games because he retired in 2024
And don't give me this crap about how he wasn't motivated playing for the Giants and Daniel Jones, this guy would be lucky right now to field passes from Jay Fiedler

Was on the road for a month, good to be home

 

[menobrown]

I would 2nd the motion that Socrates is posting, Waller might not even make the roster and if he does I highly doubt this 33 yr old(Sep) TE coming out of retirement because he lost everything in his divorce...anyone understand the actual angle here?

Francis Ford Coppola was forced to make Godfather Part 3 after he was taken to the cleaners in his divorce and you see the results in that venture with one of the GOAT behind the camera

Sounds fun and good presentation but your argument is built on a faulty premise sir.

Divorce papers were filed in April of 2024.

He retired in June of 2024.

When he retired he walked away from over $10M that was he'd have made last year.

As we established he retired after divorce papers were filed and walked away from a lot of money the Giants were ready to pay him.

He now has returned for a contract that reportedly will pay him UP to $5M.

In summary he got divorced, walked away from over $10m and returned a year later to play for less then half of what he walked away from and reportedly would only return to play for Miami.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

I would 2nd the motion that Socrates is posting, Waller might not even make the roster and if he does I highly doubt this 33 yr old(Sep) TE coming out of retirement because he lost everything in his divorce...anyone understand the actual angle here?

Francis Ford Coppola was forced to make Godfather Part 3 after he was taken to the cleaners in his divorce and you see the results in that venture with one of the GOAT behind the camera

Sounds fun and good presentation but your argument is built on a faulty premise sir.

Divorce papers were filed in April of 2024.

He retired in June of 2024.

When he retired he walked away from over $10M that was he'd have made last year.

As we established he retired after divorce papers were filed and walked away from a lot of money the Giants were ready to pay him.

He now has returned for a contract that reportedly will pay him UP to $5M.

In summary he got divorced, walked away from over $10m and returned a year later to play for less then half of what he walked away from and reportedly would only return to play for Miami.

Everyone thinks they will come out smelling like roses in the divorce, there is a reason they call it money

April '24 to minicamp '24 and body aches at 32 might have caused Waller to pull the cart before the horse

Come to think of it, Miami is probably the perfect team if we're talking about doing things in reverse

I like how you space your posts and make it easy to read

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Seeing things like "not even going to bother with him for free" seems like massive overreaction/hyperbole.

He's old but not over the hill by TE standards. He's only been out 1 year, and that last year he played he was reasonably efficient as a fantasy option (52 rec for 552yds in 11 games) on a team with less recent history of good TE fantasy numbers than Miami. His biggest problem was of course the injuries but there is a possibility the year off will help with that as it did with another oft injured TE that came out of retirement a few years ago. And additionally if @menobrown is correct, it looks like there is a pretty nice link up there from a coaching standpoint with the guy who used him most heavily in his younger days.

Seems like a very reasonable shot to take at the TE spot where outside of the top couple guys pretty much everyone has major concerns, as long as the price doesn't get too steep.

It's not like this is even some unprecedented thing. As I referenced above we only have to go back a few years to find the last oft injured early 30's TE that came out of retirement and put up a couple of solid seasons. Gronkowski was 31 so a little younger but not notably, and at age 33 he had a really great season. Marshawn came out of retirement at 31 (which is older for a RB than 32/33 is for a TE) and had a nice season as well.

 

[menobrown]

Great post and examples above @FreeBaGeL and I'll just keep it short and say I got next to no concerns on his age or ability.

I do have concerns on how his health holds up and I'd say that makes up 99% of my concern level on him.

I guess only other item to add is I'm legit surprised people can be so dismissive about a TE in this offense when it just turned Jonnu into a fantasy stud which no one anywhere I know about was predicting. I know it's often said but this was 8th year breakout Jonnu and to gauge his worth in the league when he was a FA last off-season all he got was a 2 year deal for about $8.4m. An offense where defenses are selling out to not get beat over the top with a quick release QB is why Jonnu flourished and I don't see that changing. I'm just going to say it. I think Jonnu's YAC ability was a good fit for the offense but on the whole Waller is still a superior overall reciever then Jonnu, with the "when healthy" caveat of course.

 

[Chaka]

I don't know how anyone could have a warm and fuzzy about Waller.

I don't have a "warm & fuzzy" about Waller personally. And I agree that an outcome where he remains broken is pretty high. I think people, myself included, recognize that he has demonstrated an elite ability that far surpassed anything Jonnu has ever done. If a year off got him truly healthy, I don't think he will be elite but I think he can match what Jonnu did last year with a non zero chance of having a top 10 year at the TE position.

There are a lot of... er some talented guys playing TE position for sure but, more than a few of them are contending with competition on their own team. Or they are dealing with questionable QB play.

Kincaid/Knox, Andrews/Likely, Mason Taylor, Njoku, Jonnu/Friermuth, Tyler Warren, Loveland/Kmet etc.

When I'm staring at the decision between guys like Evan Engram or Cade Otten, I probably take those guys but that's where I start thinking about a guy like Waller.

 

[-OZ-]

Seeing things like "not even going to bother with him for free" seems like massive overreaction/hyperbole.

He's old but not over the hill by TE standards. He's only been out 1 year, and that last year he played he was reasonably efficient as a fantasy option (52 rec for 552yds in 11 games) on a team with less recent history of good TE fantasy numbers than Miami. His biggest problem was of course the injuries but there is a possibility the year off will help with that as it did with another oft injured TE that came out of retirement a few years ago. And additionally if @menobrown is correct, it looks like there is a pretty nice link up there from a coaching standpoint with the guy who used him most heavily in his younger days.

Seems like a very reasonable shot to take at the TE spot where outside of the top couple guys pretty much everyone has major concerns, as long as the price doesn't get too steep.

It's not like this is even some unprecedented thing. As I referenced above we only have to go back a few years to find the last oft injured early 30's TE that came out of retirement and put up a couple of solid seasons. Gronkowski was 31 so a little younger but not notably, and at age 33 he had a really great season. Marshawn came out of retirement at 31 (which is older for a RB than 32/33 is for a TE) and had a nice season as well.

All good points, but the fact that he only played 16 games twice, the last time being 5 years ago, is a cause to pause. Obviously take a chance for free or really cheap, over other fliers who have shown nothing, but it’s best to expect nothing.

 

[Jppaul]

but it’s best to expect nothing

like marriage

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Seeing things like "not even going to bother with him for free" seems like massive overreaction/hyperbole.

He's old but not over the hill by TE standards. He's only been out 1 year, and that last year he played he was reasonably efficient as a fantasy option (52 rec for 552yds in 11 games) on a team with less recent history of good TE fantasy numbers than Miami. His biggest problem was of course the injuries but there is a possibility the year off will help with that as it did with another oft injured TE that came out of retirement a few years ago. And additionally if @menobrown is correct, it looks like there is a pretty nice link up there from a coaching standpoint with the guy who used him most heavily in his younger days.

Seems like a very reasonable shot to take at the TE spot where outside of the top couple guys pretty much everyone has major concerns, as long as the price doesn't get too steep.

It's not like this is even some unprecedented thing. As I referenced above we only have to go back a few years to find the last oft injured early 30's TE that came out of retirement and put up a couple of solid seasons. Gronkowski was 31 so a little younger but not notably, and at age 33 he had a really great season. Marshawn came out of retirement at 31 (which is older for a RB than 32/33 is for a TE) and had a nice season as well.

All good points, but the fact that he only played 16 games twice, the last time being 5 years ago, is a cause to pause. Obviously take a chance for free or really cheap, over other fliers who have shown nothing, but it’s best to expect nothing.

When Gronk came out of retirement he had also only ever played 16 games twice, the last time being a full 10 years prior.

His first year out of retirement he played all 16 games that year and 12 the next year.

 

[-OZ-]

Seeing things like "not even going to bother with him for free" seems like massive overreaction/hyperbole.

He's old but not over the hill by TE standards. He's only been out 1 year, and that last year he played he was reasonably efficient as a fantasy option (52 rec for 552yds in 11 games) on a team with less recent history of good TE fantasy numbers than Miami. His biggest problem was of course the injuries but there is a possibility the year off will help with that as it did with another oft injured TE that came out of retirement a few years ago. And additionally if @menobrown is correct, it looks like there is a pretty nice link up there from a coaching standpoint with the guy who used him most heavily in his younger days.

Seems like a very reasonable shot to take at the TE spot where outside of the top couple guys pretty much everyone has major concerns, as long as the price doesn't get too steep.

It's not like this is even some unprecedented thing. As I referenced above we only have to go back a few years to find the last oft injured early 30's TE that came out of retirement and put up a couple of solid seasons. Gronkowski was 31 so a little younger but not notably, and at age 33 he had a really great season. Marshawn came out of retirement at 31 (which is older for a RB than 32/33 is for a TE) and had a nice season as well.

All good points, but the fact that he only played 16 games twice, the last time being 5 years ago, is a cause to pause. Obviously take a chance for free or really cheap, over other fliers who have shown nothing, but it’s best to expect nothing.

When Gronk came out of retirement he had also only ever played 16 games twice, the last time being a full 10 years prior.

His first year out of retirement he played all 16 games that year and 12 the next year.

Ok. Go ahead and predict similar results, with Tua or Zach.
I’m not avoiding him but wouldn’t give much.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

I mean raise your hand if you predicted Jonnu was going to have an 8th year breakout after signing a relatively paltry deal with the Dolphins last year.

I was all over the Jonnu topic saying he’d have a great season based on McDaniel’s comments about how they intended to use him.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Miami may simply not be done, but if you want to nit pick here...

I keep thinking Pitts or Kmet might be in play for MIA.

 

[menobrown]

I mean raise your hand if you predicted Jonnu was going to have an 8th year breakout after signing a relatively paltry deal with the Dolphins last year.

I was all over the Jonnu topic saying he’d have a great season based on McDaniel’s comments about how they intended to use him.

I actually recall you being higher on him then anyone else so kudos but I also don't recall you predicting any kind of massive season like he had either. I could be wrong, but recall it more, "I think he could have a nice role" then calling out smashing a career season.

 

[efactor]

@socrates I think it's fair to say the Fins are speculating and you could definitely be right that he doesn't even make the roster.

I would 2nd the motion that Socrates is posting, Waller might not even make the roster and if he does I highly doubt this 33 yr old(Sep) TE coming out of retirement because he lost everything in his divorce...anyone understand the actual angle here?

Francis Ford Coppola was forced to make Godfather Part 3 after he was taken to the cleaners in his divorce and you see the results in that venture with one of the GOAT behind the camera
Waller isn't anything close to Hall of Fame, he had 2 pretty strong seasons several years ago, has been avg to below that for a while now

I wouldn't assume Waller is the TE all year, also misses huge chunks of time during the season.

Darren Waller Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats for Darren Waller. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, college, draft, and more on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

Just look at the numbers since 2020...11 games, 6 games, 11 games, NO Games because he retired in 2024
And don't give me this crap about how he wasn't motivated playing for the Giants and Daniel Jones, this guy would be lucky right now to field passes from Jay Fiedler

Was on the road for a month, good to be home

I feel dumber for having read this

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

I actually recall you being higher on him then anyone else so kudos but I also don't recall you predicting any kind of massive season like he had either. I could be wrong, but recall it more, "I think he could have a nice role" then calling out smashing a career season.

I expected more than most but not as much as he delivered. IIRC I made a projection for him, but I’m too lazy to go back page by page to find it.

 

[menobrown]

I actually recall you being higher on him then anyone else so kudos but I also don't recall you predicting any kind of massive season like he had either. I could be wrong, but recall it more, "I think he could have a nice role" then calling out smashing a career season.

I expected more than most but not as much as he delivered. IIRC I made a projection for him, but I’m too lazy to go back page by page to find it.

I absolutely remember you were bullish on him. Stuck in my head because it seemed crazy optimistic. You nailed it.

Just don’t think anyone saw that kind of year coming

 

[Faust]

OTL
I was sure the Miami Dolphins would make a move for an obvious trade candidate like Kyle Pitts, Cole Kmet or Michael Mayer to replace Jonnu smith

Instead, Mike McDaniel brings in the ghost of Darren Waller to be Tua’s new safety blanket for 2025

The NFL is truly undefeated

https://x.com/otlffootball/status/1940071356953239617?s=61