The Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants negotiated a blockbuster trade on Tuesday. The Raiders will send former Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller to the Meadowlands.
The Giants sent their third-round pick, pick No. 100, for Waller. New York acquired that pick when they traded Kadarius Toney to the Kansas City Chiefs. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network was among the first to report.
Waller, like most of the offensive weapons on the Raiders last year, struggled. He only had 388 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Waller also had to deal with a few injuries recently but in 2019 and 2020, Waller had back-to-back 1,100-yard seasons.
But in 2021 and 2022, he has only played in a combined 19 games over the past two seasons.
The Giants, who just signed Daniel Jones to a huge contract extension, are looking to get better on offense. Despite making the playoffs last year, the Giants at times still struggled on offense.
They hope with this trade that they can add more power to this offense that desperately at times needed it. Both the Cowboys and Eagles were two of the top offenses in the NFL last year and the Giants don’t need to fall further behind on that front.
The Raiders may be dumping Waller too because of his salary. Waller was making $12 million a year and with him gone, the team may be able to add new offensive weapons on the team to help Jimmy Garoppolo.