Darren Waller joins list featuring Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski of NFL players to un-retire
The Miami Dolphins continue to make moves late in the 2025 offseason.
Miami closed out June with a blockbuster trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers that netted them safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in return for cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith as well as a swap of Day 3 picks in the 2027 NFL Draft.
One day later, they've made another deal to fill Smith's shoes.
On July 1, Miami agreed to trade a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to the New York Giants in return for newly un-retired tight end Darren Waller.
Waller retired following the 2023 NFL season, citing a health scare he suffered in November of that season. That was his only year with the Giants following a five-year stint with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders. He last played a full season in 2020 when he made his lone Pro Bowl appearance.
Waller is entering his age-33 season as he attempts a comeback. He's not the only notable NFL player to un-retire in recent years.
Notable NFL players who have come out of retirement
This list includes players since 2010.
QB Teddy Bridgewater
Bridgewater announced his retirement following the 2023 NFL season. He'd spent that year with the Detroit Lions backing up starter Jared Goff as the franchise made a run to the NFC championship game. He then transitioned to coaching at his alma mater, Miami Northwestern High School, and led them to a state title.
Less than two weeks later, he came out of retirement to join the Lions once again ahead of the NFL playoffs. He spent the final three games of the Lions' season as the third-string quarterback behind Goff and Hendon Hooker and did not play.
QB Tom Brady
After one of the greatest careers in NFL history, Brady announced his retirement on Feb. 1, 2022. He was one season removed from a seventh Super Bowl victory with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and had just thrown for a career-high 5,316 yards and league-leading 43 touchdowns.
That retirement lasted all of 40 days. Brady announced on March 13, 2022 that he'd be back for the 2022 NFL season. The Buccaneers went 8-9, his first losing season as a starter in the NFL, and Brady called it a career for good in February 2023.
S Eric Weddle
Weddle was one of the top safeties in the league in the early 2010s. He made five All-Pro teams - two first-team, three second-team - with the then-San Diego Chargers and was a three-time Pro Bowler in three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. He weighed retirement after the 2018 season before ultimately signing a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams ahead of the 2019 season.
He played out the 2019 season but announced his retirement in February 2020. He also made the move to coaching by taking over his son's Pop Warner team.
That changed in January 2022. The six-time Pro Bowler re-signed with the Rams after multiple injuries in their safety room. He started all four of the Rams' playoff games, including Super Bowl 56. He announced after the game that he'd torn his pectoral muscle and would be retiring for good.
TE Rob Gronkowski
Gronkowski was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's All-Decade team for the 2010s, thanks to his impressive run with the New England Patriots. The tight end was a first-team All-Pro four times and won three titles from 2010 to 2018. He announced his retirement in March 2019 and later cited the toll injuries had taken on him over his nine-year career.
That changed one year later. Gronkowski followed Brady to Tampa Bay as the Patriots traded him to the Buccaneers for a pick swap in the 2020 NFL Draft. He spent two seasons with the Buccaneers and won another Super Bowl in that 2020 season before retiring for good in June 2022.
TE Jason Witten
Witten set multiple franchise records for the Dallas Cowboys over a 15-year stint with the franchise starting in 2003. The former third-round pick made 11 Pro Bowls and four All-Pro teams (two first-team, two second-team) by the time he called it a career following the 2017 season. He made the transition to the broadcast booth to call "Monday Night Football" games on ESPN.
That only stuck for a year, though, as he returned to the Cowboys for the 2019 season on a one-year deal. He made 16 starts and caught four touchdowns. The Las Vegas Raiders came calling for his services in 2020 and he spent a season there before retiring again in January 2021 and taking up coaching his sons' high school football team.
RB Marshawn Lynch
Lynch went from being a solid starter in Buffalo to a tone-setter in Seattle in the early 2010s. The Seahawks' dominant teams of the decade featured a historically good defense and Lynch's powerful running on offense. He racked up four Pro Bowls and two All-Pro honors from 2011 through 2014 but dealt with injuries in 2015 and announced his retirement during Super Bowl 50.
That changed a year later when Lynch learned his hometown Oakland Raiders would be relocating to Las Vegas. He wanted Raiders fans in Oakland to see a homegrown star play for the team and he spent two seasons with the Raiders before retiring again after the 2018 season.
That didn't stick for long either, as he returned with Seattle late in the 2019 season following injuries to the Seahawks' running back room. Lynch had three touchdowns in the postseason and that was the last of his NFL career.
WR Randy Moss
Moss tied for the league lead in receiving touchdowns in 2009 but things were much different a year later. He started the 2010 season with New England before the Patriots traded him to the Minnesota Vikings for a third-round pick in Week 5. Minnesota waived him less than a month later and he spent the final eight games of the year with the Tennessee Titans. The future Hall of Famer announced his retirement in August 2011.
That changed a year later as Moss signed a one-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers. He had 28 receptions, 434 yards and three touchdowns as the 49ers made a run to Super Bowl 47. That Super Bowl loss was the final game of Moss' career.