Who Should I Start? Darren Waller or Michael Mayer

Monday, July 28, 6:11 PM

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said on Monday that tight end Darren Waller is in "tremendous shape," but the team isn't allowing that to "trick us into thinking he's in football shape." Waller was "very active" with tight ends coach Jon Embree on Monday, according to ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques. The 32-year-old isn't dealing with any type of injury, but the Dolphins placed him on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list to start training camp after he retired and sat out all of the 2024 campaign. Waller is back now and should serve as the team's top pass-catching TE after they traded Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers. There's no guarantee that he'll be anything near the type of receiver he was in his peak seasons with the Raiders, but given the shallow fantasy position of TE, Waller is at least worthy of a TE2 dart throw.

Monday, June 30, 9:19 PM

The Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore reports that the Las Vegas Raiders are not interested in trading tight end Michael Mayer. It comes after reports that the Miami Dolphins were interested in acquiring Mayer from the Raiders after trading tight end Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday. Mayer is scheduled to make $1.6 million in 2025 and $2 million in 2026 and took a back seat in 2024 to rookie Brock Bowers, catching just 21 of 32 targets for 156 yards and no touchdowns in 11 games (eight starts) in his second year in the NFL. The 23-year-old Notre Dame product caught 27 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie. There have been reports suggesting he'll have a bigger role in 2025 in two-tight end sets in new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly's scheme, but as long as Bowers is healthy, he'll be the second fiddle at the position if he stays in Vegas.