At the start of organized team activities (OTAs), New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll was still uncertain about the football future of star tight end Darren Waller.
“I would say the same thing I said last month, let Darren take what he needs to take and once the decision is made, we’ll go from there,” Daboll told reporters. “We have conversations, obviously, but when Darren makes his decision, that’s what we’ll go with.”
It might be possible the Giants won’t wait too much longer. June 1 is just days away, and although the team is leaving the decision in Waller’s hands, could simply cut him after Saturday and realize a 2024 cap benefit of nearly $11 million.
In a good show of faith, the team will likely wait until Waller decides but he really can’t take too much longer. His troubled hamstring is still in question and the Giants have already loaded up their tight end room in anticipation of him not returning.
General manager Joe Schoen signed veterans Chris Manhertz and Jack Stoll and then followed that up by selecting Penn State’s Theo Johnson in the fourth round of this year’s NFL draft.
Johnson is very Waller-like in size at 6-foot-6 and around 260 pounds and with some fast-track coaching could very well slide into the role Waller played last season.
Waller has to be seeing this but there doesn’t seem to be any additional urgency on either side to get this situation resolved.
