On Monday afternoon, the Dolphins signed former NFL rushing champion Arian Foster, who was released by the Houston Texans last March. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the deal is for one season at $1.5 million, which could increase depending on certain incentives to $3.5 million.
Dolphins are giving Arian Foster a 1-year, $1.5 million deal that includes incentives that could bring max value of deal to $3.5 million.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 18, 2016
Foster is a former four-time Pro Bowl and the all-time leading rusher in Texans history (6,472 yards), but the running back has had trouble staying on the field the last few seasons.
Last season, Foster only played in four games for the Texans as he was hampered by two separate injuries. He tore his groin in training camp, which caused him to miss three games. He then recovered to play in four games before tearing his Achilles tendon against the Dolphins last October.
In the last three seasons, Foster played in only 25 out of 48 games for the Texans.
Foster will join a Dolphins backfield that has a ton of questions heading into training camp. Ajayi, who sits atop of the Dolphins depth chart at running back at the moment, only rushed for 187 yards and one touchdown on 49 carries in his rookie season in 2015.
Drake is a first-year player, who has a ton of injury concerns himself. During his time at Alabama, Drake broke both his leg (2014) and his arm (2015). While Drake has a lot of potential because of his versatility, it is unknown if he can stay healthy during a 16-game season.
Adding a veteran presence in Foster will not only help the Dolphins on the field, but it should help them in the locker room.
Even if Foster isn’t the same running back that rushed for 1,616 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2010, he could be a productive running back in limited duty for the Dolphins.
Foster will also help the Dolphins as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. In only four games in 2015, Foster recorded 22 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns.
During his time with the Denver Broncos, Adam Gase loved to get running backs involved in passing situation out of the backfield. In his last two seasons, Denver running back CJ Anderson caught 59 passes for 507 yards. So expect Gase to utilize Foster in a similar way, especially with Ajayi’s shaky hands out of the backfield.
Is signing Foster a huge deal for the Dolphins as it would have been three or four years ago, no. Foster will be 30 in August and that is the age when most running backs are done being productive players in the league.
But it does give the team a veteran running back to take the load off of Ajayi and Drake. Expect Ajayi to start for Miami, but signing Foster is a low risk, high reward for the club.
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