The former general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders has dropped a bombshell regarding the recent trade of star tight end, Darren Waller, revealing the recent trade of star tight end Darren Waller was linked to off-field issues during the regular season.
Darren Waller recently tied the knot with the WNBA All-Star MVP Kelsey Plum at the beginning of the month. The veteran TE was traded to the Giants after just 10 days of the marriage, letting the newlywed couple have a long-distance marriage.
Current WNBA champion Kelsey later savaged the head coach McDaniel by pointing out the coach not getting invited to the couple’s marriage as the reason for the trade in a tweet.
Prolly cause he wasn’t invited to the wedding lol https://t.co/K3i7oW5oe4
— Kelsey Plum (@Kelseyplum10) March 15, 2023
What did Michael Lombardi say about the trade of Darren Waller?
In an episode of the Podcast the GM Shuffle, NFL insider Michael Lombardi cited Darren Waller’s lack of dedication to recovering from a hamstring injury as the primary cause of his more than 50 percent season-long absence and subsequent appearance in only 20 games.
“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.”
Lombardi continued saying how the former Raiders’ TE went home for 4 days and accrued the fines after the team redid his contract.
“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…’, he stated.
Former #NFL GM Michael Lombardi on the factors that led to the #Raiders decision to trade Darren Waller:
“On the bye week [he] went home and just didn’t talk to anybody. Just went home and left a message…”
😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/Z1IjZtTt5J
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) March 19, 2023
The former GM also added, ” 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.”
As Lombardi has two sons working in the Raiders, his sources should be credible, albeit we can never say it was totally true as we don’t know what is happening behind closed doors in the Raiders’ camp.
As for Waller, he has not yet commented on the situation, albeit fans of Waller and the Raiders are left to wonder what could have been if the talented tight end had been able to overcome his off-field issues and remain with the team.
Do you also think the off-field decision was the main reason for Waller’s trade? You can share your thoughts with us in the comments.
