Give credit where credit is due. The New York Giants' offseason wasn't exactly filled with weird moves or a lack of moves that were weird. One could argue that not addressing the offensive line or skill positions more was weird, but general manager Joe Schoen didn't exactly enter the offseason with unlimited cap space.
Still, even though those are a little odd, they pale in comparison to Darren Waller's unretirement-forced-trade to the Miami Dolphins. Talk about not having this on your Bingo card. Waller called it a career after the 2024 season, citing a lack of passion for the game and a role in New York that didn't utilize his skillset.
Related: Giants look like geniuses as Dolphins stumble through Darren Waller experiment
Fast-forward one year, and things couldn't be more different. In a shocking turn of events, the 32-year-old rolled over on the couch and called his agent to facilitate a trade to Miami... for some reason. In an even more surprising turn of events, Joe Schoen was able to make the deal in record time and get a draft pick out of the trade. Talk about weird.
Giants trading Darren Waller was the weirdest offseason move by a mile
The Giants traded a retired player and walked away with draft capital. That alone is strange. But the moment Waller landed in Miami, the whole thing got even weirder. He never suited up. He didn’t take a single rep. He just kind of... existed on the sidelines, while Phins head coach Mike McDaniel played coy about his status.
Week after week, it was the same vague update — “easing him in” or “thinking long-term.” And yet, the clock kept ticking. No practice. No joint sessions. No preseason action. Just one long delay from a team that seemed more afraid to show what kind of shape he was in than excited to get him involved.
Now he’s off the PUP list, but that’s just paperwork. Pads still haven’t come on. The questions haven’t gone away. He's supposedly going to ramp up this week, so all eyes will be on what kind of football shape he's in after a year on the couch.
For Giants fans, it’s comedy. They turned a midseason check-out into a sixth-rounder, while the Dolphins try to convince everyone that Waller is just ramping up on his own time.
And maybe he is. Maybe he plays. Maybe he contributes. But if this is the plan — to bring a 32-year-old out of retirement and then redshirt him the entire offseason — then it’s hard to argue this wasn’t the single strangest move of the entire NFL offseason. And somehow, the Giants came out ahead.