NFC East news: Giants Waller still mulling retirement, Eagles shut down trade talks for A.J. Brown

The latest news from around the division.

Giants Continue to Wait on TE Darren Waller’s Retirement Decision – Patricia Traina, Sports Illustrated

New York is giving their tight end space to make his decision.

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen confirmed that the team has not placed a deadline on tight end Darren Waller, who has been contemplating retiring from the NFL after a disappointing and injury-filled first season with the team.

Waller, among a small handful of players who did not report to the start of the team’s voluntary off-season program on Monday, finished second on the team with 52 receptions, 552 yards, and one touchdown last season.

He missed five games with a hamstring injury, which landed him on injured reserve, but he came back for the team’s Week 14 game against the New Orleans Saints, adding 16 receptions (on 23 targets) for 168 yards to his season totals.

“We’re giving Darren his space,” Schoen said Thursday at his pre-draft news conference. “We’ve had conversations with Drew Rosenhaus, his agent. He’s keeping us in the loop. We’re giving Darren space. Hopefully, he will make a decision in the short term, but we’re giving him time and space to decide on what he wants to do.”

While the Giants would no doubt prefer to know of Waller’s decision sooner than later, there is a major advantage to having Waller, who has said he plans to decide before summer training camp, take his time.

If Waller retires, it would likely be a post-June 1 transaction, which means the Giants would gain $11.625 million in cap savings rather than the $6.707 million they’d gain if he were a pre-June 1 transaction.

That $11.625 million savings, in addition to the $5.447 million they currently have, should be more than enough to make it through the 2024 season without restructuring any more contracts this year.

Waller has appeared in 32 games over the last three seasons, the 12 games played last year being the highest in that span.

Schoen has also said that the team will not alter its personnel plans regardless of what Waller decides.

Commanders GM Adam Peters not looking to trade out of second overall pick: ‘We feel great about staying at No. 2’ – Nick Shook, NFL.com

Washington is happy where they are in the draft order.

The Washington Commanders are in the rare, luxurious position in which they can take any of the remaining quarterbacks available in the first round of next week’s draft.

At No. 2, they have their pick of the litter, minus Caleb Williams, who is expected to be selected first overall by Chicago. Once Washington is on the clock, the real fun begins, and according to new Commanders general manager Adam Peters, Washington isn’t entertaining moving out of the catbird’s seat.

“We feel great about staying at No. 2,” Peters said Thursday. “I don’t see a whole lot of scenarios where we trade down, to be honest with you. We feel great about staying there.”

One peek at Washington’s depth chart will tell you all you need to know about what position (hint: they throw passes) the Commanders are targeting at No. 2. In fact, with the expectation of Williams’ selection at No. 1, the Commanders very well could be set on their choice a week before the draft.

“We’re real close,” Peters said. “There’s still a few more things in the process we have to do. As you guys are maybe getting, I’m pretty process-driven, process-oriented, so we have the debrief on our 30 (prospect) visits with the whole staff, talking about everybody there. We haven’t done that yet. Then later tonight we have a medical meeting, as well, to go over all the medicals in the combine and get that information as well and just ask pointed questions, if there are any, on certain players if we have some questions on that.

“So, we have a few more things and DQ (head coach Dan Quinn) and I will huddle up and probably have an answer really sometime next week. Now, I will say this also, we don’t really need to make a decision until you need to make a decision. So there’s no rush with that, but I think we’ll have a pretty good idea what we’re doing early next week.”

Breer: Patriots ‘inquired’ about A.J. Brown trade with Eagles – Jordan Daly, NBC Sports Boston

Despite the interest, Philadelphia made clear that Brown was not available.

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown sent social media into a frenzy on Thursday afternoon after changing his profile picture to a photo of New England Patriots legend Tom Brady, with many fans seeing the profile update as a possible hint that he could be on the move.

After noticing the controversy that had been created by a simple profile picture change, Brown cleared the air with a post on X, stating that he changed his picture after being motivated by Brady’s dominant career, which he was reminded of after recently watching The Dynasty documentary on Apple TV+. Brown also notably grew up as a Patriots fan.

“TB12 is my favorite player ever,” Brown wrote in the post, which he since has deleted. “I watch(ed) the dynasty and it brought back some memories from my childhood.

“Go look up what he did in 2015 when he was doubted/ disrespected. Yeah I see the disrespect. Motivated … yes. That’s it. I Did not think changing my pfp (profile picture) to the greatest QB ever would cause controversy.”

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported Thursday on NBC Sports Boston’s Arbella Early Edition, which you can watch in the video player above, that the Patriots have in fact inquired about the Pro Bowl receiver but were told he was not available.

“Philadelphia has gotten inquiries on A.J. Brown,” Breer said, later confirming that the Patriots were one of the inquiring teams. “They have shut them all down and told other teams that he is not available.”

The Patriots had a chance to draft Brown in 2019, but they decided to select Arizona State wide receiver N’Keal Harry with the last pick in the first round. The Titans ended up taking Brown in the second round. Tennessee traded him to the Eagles in 2022.

Last October, an interview from 2020 resurfaced where Brown claimed to have cried when the Patriots passed on him in the draft in favor of Harry.

“I left everybody at the house and went home,” Brown said. “I went in the closet and cried my eyes out.”