"Damn that divorce hit hard": Giants fans pin Darren Waller's potential retirement down to Kelsey Plum split

According to a report from NFL Insider Adam Schefter, the New York Giants are expecting tight end Darren Waller to retire from the NFL following his divorce from WNBA star Kelsey Plum. Waller has yet to officially announce his retirement from the NFL, but ESPN's Jordan Raanan says sources informed him that the tight end is expected to retire before next week's mandatory minicamp.

If Waller does retire, the tight end will walk away from the $10.525 million for this season with another $1.275 million available in per-game roster bonuses, as none of the money is guaranteed. He already bypassed a $200,000 workout bonus by skipping the spring workouts.

With Waller expected to retire, NFL fans pinned down his fallout with WNBA star Kelsey Plum as the potential reason.

"Damn that divorce hit hard. Hope the young man gets what’s his," one fan wrote.

"fumbling kelsey plum destroyed this mans life," a fan wrote.

"He single now, he’s coming back," a fan wrote.

Other fans also think Plum divorcing him ruined Waller.

"KP making this man retire," a fan wrote.

"Plum broke this man," a fan added.

"I’ll never forgive bro for fumbling Kelsey Plum," a fan wrote.

Waller has been in the NFL since 2015, when he was drafted in the sixth round by the Baltimore Ravens. He then signed with Oakland in 2018, which is when his career took off.

In 2019 and 2020, he had over 1,000 yards receiving, which led him to sign a three-year, $51 million contract extension in 2022.

However, Waller was traded to the Giants in March 2023, but he suffered injuries in his lone season in New York as he recorded just 552 receiving yards.

Darren Waller releases music video after divorce from Kelsey Plum

Darren Waller and Kelsey Plum reportedly started dating in 2022, while Waller was with the Raiders and Plum was playing for the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA.

The two tied the knot on March 4, 2023, but on April 23 of this year, Plum announced the two got a divorce.

Over a month after Plum's statement, Waller did not say anything about the divorce until he dropped a song and a music video potentially directed toward Plum.

Neither Waller nor Plum have spoken about the main reason for the divorce.