The Carolina Panthers reached a contract agreement Wednesday with free‑agent tight end Darren Waller, a league source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. The 33‑year‑old playmaker spent last season with the Miami Dolphins, working with new Panthers associate head coach/offensive specialist Darrell Bevell, who was Miami's passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach. Waller came out of retirement in 2025 to join the Dolphins following a trade with the New York Giants. He battled multiple injuries in Miami, but in nine games produced 24 catches for 283 yards and 6 touchdowns. Waller, a sixth‑round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2015, has played nine seasons in the NFL but skipped the 2024 campaign for a temporary retirement. He made the Pro Bowl with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020, and has 374 receptions for 4,407 yards and 26 touchdowns in his career. Waller joins a tight‑end room fronted by veteran Tommy Tremble, who is entering his sixth season in Carolina. The unit also features 2025 fifth‑round pick Mitchell Evans, 2024 fourth‑rounder Ja'Tavion Sanders, as well as veterans James Mitchell and Feleipe Franks.

With Waller aboard, the dynamic might shift, as Evans and Tremble are traditional tight ends, while Waller and Sanders are pass‑catchers, first and foremost. The Panthers must make a corresponding roster move to add Waller; they are currently at the 91‑man limit, including an international exemption.