Former Houston Texans running back Arian Foster has signed with the Miami Dolphins, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Foster, 29, was released by his former team this offseason for a number of reasons, but primarily due to his extensive injury history. That was exacerbated by his large cap hit, but Foster, entering his eighth season in the league, was always going to find a team willing to give him a shot on the open market.
The Dolphins will take a chance on injury-plagued Arian Foster
Miami signed Foster to an incentive-laden one-year deal.
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Foster and the Dolphins agreed to a one-year contract worth $1.5 million, but he could max out at $3.5 million if he can reach incentives in the deal, says Schefter.
Jay Ajayi is still expected to be the Dolphins’ primary running back, but Foster should see plenty of work, especially in the passing game. It’s a crowded backfield nevertheless. Rookie Kenyan Drake, a third-round pick, could disrupt the order of the depth chart with a strong camp.
Foster hasn’t played a complete 16-game season since 2012, and has only done it twice in his career. Over the past three seasons, he has missed nearly as many regular season games (23) as he’s played (25). When he’s healthy, he still looks like the explosive running back who broke out in 2010 with 1,616 yards and 16 touchdowns.
On top of that, he’s not even that far removed from being that kind of player, as he put up 1,246 yards and eight touchdowns with a 4.8 yards per carry average in 2014. That was while playing in just 13 games, so his numbers could have been even bigger if he’d stayed healthy.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly the problem. Foster has dealt with back, Achilles, hamstring and other injuries throughout his career. Last season, he ruptured his Achilles tendon and was placed on injured reserve. He has played in 76 career games with 6,472 yards and 54 touchdowns on the ground, both of which are Texans franchise records.
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