April 17, 2025
During his "Giants After Dark" monologue on Instagram, old friend and ESPN's New York Giants beat reporter Jordan Raanan revealed that the Giants had explored a trade for Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert (video cut up below by Anthony DiBona).
Jordan Raanan of ESPN revealed earlier tonight on his Instagram live that the Giants have shown interest in Eagles TE Dallas Goedert.
— Anthony DiBona (@DiBonaNFL) April 16, 2025
Raanan also added that he doesn’t expect it to be a move that the Giants will make.
(🎥: @jordanraananespn on Instagram) pic.twitter.com/mdVVxZpLel
In March of 2023, the Giants traded a late third-round pick (100th overall) for the then-30-year-old Waller, who had an $11 million base salary, plus up to $1.275 million in per game roster bonuses and $200K in workout bonuses. The immediate reaction to the trade was something to the effect of "The Raiders are idiots," and "Holy crap what a steal for the Giants."
I never saw it that way. Waller had 197 catches for 2,341 yards and 12 TDs in two seasons in 2019 and 2020, but he was an injury-prone player in 2021 and 2022 who had 83 catches for 1,053 yards and 5 TDs over those two seasons. They were getting a player who used to be good, not one at the top of his game.
As it turned out, Waller played one forgettable season with the Giants in 2023, making 52 receptions for 552 yards (10.6 YPC) and 1 TD, before retiring the following summer.
All told, he cost the Giants a third-round pick and a little over $12 million.
Goedert is a better player now than Waller was two years ago. He actually has pretty similar numbers as Waller did in the two years before they were each on the trade block:
| Player | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| Darren Waller, 2021-2022 (missed 14 games) | 83 | 1053 | 12.7 | 5 |
| Dallas Goedert, 2023-2024 (missed 10 games) | 101 | 1088 | 10.8 | 5 |
The difference is that (a) Goedert is among the best blocking tight ends in the league, while Waller was more of a glorified big slot receiver, and (b) Goedert was also a beast in the 2024 playoffs, leading the Eagles in receiving, and helping them win a Super Bowl.
| Eagles receiving - 2024 playoffs | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| Dallas Goedert | 17 | 215 | 12.6 | 1 |
| DeVonta Smith | 16 | 190 | 11.9 | 1 |
| A.J. Brown | 12 | 163 | 13.6 | 2 |
| Saquon Barkley | 13 | 75 | 5.8 | 0 |
| Jahan Dotson | 3 | 53 | 17.7 | 1 |
As noted above, financially, Waller cost the Giants $12.1 million. Goedert should cost ~$15 million for a team trading for Goedert and his contract, as is.
The tale of the tape:
| Trade block TEs | Darren Waller (2023) | Dallas Goedert (2025) |
| Age | 30 | 30 |
| Stats (previous 2 yrs) | 83-1053-5 | 101-1088-5 |
| Playoff stats (previous 2 yrs) | 7-76-0 | 21-236-2 |
| Financial obligation to acquiring team | ~$12 million | ~$15 million |
| Good blocker? | No | Yes |
It's not a stretch to say that Goedert should have more value right now than Waller did two years ago.
Interestingly, Josina Anderson reported a while back that the Eagles were "holding out hope" for a fourth-round pick.
There are league sources who believe the #Eagles are holding out hope for at least a 4th-round pick for TE Dallas Goedert in a potential trade, even if said pick was from later years like 26' or '27.
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 9, 2025
However, a lower pick & more of a salary adjustment is needed for some* teams… pic.twitter.com/VtXj599VlF
If they're using the Waller trade as a benchmark, that's a reasonable ask. However, teams around the league (mostly) aren't as dumb as the Giants.
My guess? Compensation will land somewhere around the same ballpark as the Cardinals' 2021 trade for Zach Ertz (also 30 at the time, by the way), which was a fifth-round pick and a throw-in player (CB Tay Gowan).
MORE: Pre-draft takeaways from Howie Roseman, Nick Sirianni
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