Google News Ex-NFL GM explains what led Darren Waller's departure from Raiders
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Former NFL GM Michael Lombardi claims Darren Waller's unprofessional approach led to the tight end's departure from the Las Vegas Raiders. At the start of this year's free agency, the Raiders traded Waller to the New York Giants for a third-round pick.
Just a year ago, Waller was considered one of the best and premiere tight ends in the league. “This is about durability. This is about ‘I’m getting ready to pay you $11 million, we redid your contract and on the bye week, instead of rehabbing, you went home for four days and accrued the fines.
On the bye week, you went home and just didn’t talk to anybody. Just went home and left a message saying ‘hey, fine me. I don’t care. I’m going to southern California. Ok. Go ahead, but does that tell you as a coach that would want to win? Where does that come from? These are the things that people don’t understand.
It’s always the players are right, the coaches are wrong and I’m not saying this because my son is the coach there," Lombardi said on The GM Shuffle, per Total Pro Sports.
Waller was stunned after the Raiders traded him
In his introductory press conference with the Giants, Waller claimed he was preparing to be ready for the Raiders when he learned the news about him being traded to New York.
“I did not see this coming. I was getting ready to just do everything I could to make myself available for the Raiders and get ready for everything that was going to start in mid-April. It caught me off guard, but it’s the nature of the business," Waller said after signing with the Giants.
In the last two seasons, Waller missed a significant number of games. This past season, Waller appeared in just nine games and missed eight games due to injuries.
