Darren Waller is embarking on a new chapter of his NFL career after the tight end was traded to the New York Giants this offseason. This next step comes after a rather salty ending with the Las Vegas Raiders, particularly between the veteran tight end and head coach Josh McDaniels. With New York, Waller seems to be thrilled with his situation and may have even taken a veiled shot at his former club/coach while praising his new environment.
"Yeah, they value our opinions here," Waller said Thursday, via NFL.com. "As a player, I feel like a lot of places I've gone, you're told to do things a certain way and you do those things. But here it's like, they ask a lot of questions. They want to know what you're thinking, what do you like to do more. So to offer input is a really cool thing because coaches and players have got to be in partnership. We're all together and shouldn't be clashing with each other. We're all going in the same direction."
Waller and McDaniels reportedly clashed after the head coach let it slip that the tight end was getting married, a nugget of news that he and his now wife, WNBA star Kelsey Plum, had kept quiet. Waller was said to be upset with McDaniels for revealing that news at the NFL Combine and 10 days after the wedding the tight end happened to be traded to the Giants.
McDaniels is looked at as a coach cut from the Bill Belichick cloth and runs a no-nonsense ship similar to how things were run at his previous stop in New England. Despite also breaking into the NFL under Belichick, Giants head coach Brian Daboll appears to have a different style that appears to be more player friendly.
"It's different from team to team. I'm on my third now," Waller said of New York's culture. "There's different cultures everywhere you go, different types of energy. This is a really light place, really fun place, really empowering place where you just be yourself always. And as long as you're not putting the team at risk by getting a flag or things like that, you can really let your personality show. That's what I love about being here. It's just been fun. It's also been challenging. Guys holding you to a high standard since I got here, and I try to reciprocate that."
The Giants were able to make the playoffs in Daboll's first season as head coach in 2022, which many looked at as an overachievement. After and offseason where the Giants have beefed up some areas of need -- including adding the likes of Waller to the pass-catching unit -- they are set to push again for the postseason in 2023. And if Waller can help them do that, he'll likely make his former team
