Dolphins Offer Arian Foster Best Chance at Resurrecting NFL Career

Back in 2010, Arian Foster led the NFL with 1,616 rushing yards for the Houston Texans. Three times in the five seasons since, he has eclipsed 1,000 yards on the ground, including as recently as 2014.

It's injuries that have defined the 29-year-old the past few years, though. Injuries like the torn Achilles that led to Foster's release from Houston. Those injuries have him on a mission to show he can make it back and reclaim his status as one of the NFL's top running backs.

On Monday, Foster took the next step toward that goal. And in signing with the Miami Dolphins, he landed in just about the best spot he could if that goal is going to become a reality.

It was Foster's agent, Mike McCartney, who broke the news that the eighth-year veteran was heading to Miami on a one-year deal:

Foster was also reportedly set to work out for the Detroit Lions this week, per ESPN's Adam Schefter, and as happens anytime a big-name veteran back hits the open market, the New England Patriots had been rumored to be kicking the tires, per B/R's Jason Cole.

However, it isn't hard to see why Foster pulled the trigger on joining the Dolphins without waiting to see what other offers came along. The Patriots may have given Foster a chance to win, assuming they were at all interested.

But the Dolphins give Foster a chance to play.

After watching Lamar Miller depart for (of all places) Houston in free agency and failing in their pursuits of C.J. Anderson and Chris Johnson, the prevailing wisdom was that the Dolphins would make running back a priority in the 2016 draft. The team did indeed draft a back on Day 2. But third-round pick Kenyan Drake is a pass-catching scatback. A complement. Not a bell cow.

That left Jay Ajayi as the lead back on a wafer-thin depth chart for the Dolphins. The same Jay Ajayi who dropped to the fifth round in 2015 due to concerns about his knee. The same Jay Ajayi who averaged 3.8 yards a carry as a rookie.

Granted, as ESPN.com's James Walker wrote recently, Ajayi isn't hurting for confidence:

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Everyone else has opinions on what I can do and if I'm worthy enough, and I know how good I am. I know how great I can be. That's my mentality coming in, day in and day out -- to work, so that when I step out on that field, I can produce the way I know that I can and be the great back that I know I can be.

"

However, as Yahoo's Scott Pianowski tweeted, Monday's developments go a long way toward showing said confidence was something of a one-way street:

You can't really blame the team. Even if they were over the moon about Ajayi, it made sense to add some depth behind him. Especially when that depth comes with the talent and resume Foster does.

As recently as two years ago, Foster looked like arguably the best back in the league. He rolled for 1,246 rushing yards in 13 games at 4.8 yards a pop. Only DeMarco Murray of the Dallas Cowboys and Marshawn Lynch of the Seattle Seahawks had more yards after contact than Foster.

2015 was a different story though. Foster missed the first three weeks of the season and clearly wasn't himself when he was on the field. Not only did he fail to gain four yards a carry for the first time in his career, but he failed to get even three.

Then there's the matter of the torn Achilles tendon that ended Foster's 2015 season, and some thought his career. It's an injury that's hard enough for any player to come back from, never mind a running back who turns 30 this year, has nearly 1,500 career carries and has lost nearly half of the past three seasons combined to injuries.

The injury made for a cool early market for Foster's services, but his brother (and trainer) Abdul told Bleacher Report back in March that not only did he expect things to heat up, but that all the injuries also had a silver lining of sorts:

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For Arian to have taken the time to sit out and not play, to not absorb all that blunt force on his body—he’s just starting to get back to what it’s like to feel normal. And while he’s missed quite a bit of time over the past few years, there’s a silver lining: He also avoided quite a bit of wear and tear.

Once Arian is healthy, the real grunt work begins. Hit the weights. And the track for 1,200-meter repeats. And the miles and miles of running on different terrain. On the grass. Up hills. In the sand. In the pool. It’s no joke.

"

That work is still a long way from complete. Convincing a team you're healthy enough to merit a one-year deal is a long way from making the team. And making the team is an even longer way from staking claim to lead back duties.

The Dolphins likely have something else in mind. In a perfect world, Ajayi will take the fish (mammal, whatever) by the fins and become the lead back he believes himself capable of being. Foster will serve as both injury insurance and a physical change of pace. His versatility and experience would come in quite handy in this regard.

With no shortage of young receiving talent, the Dolphins don't need Foster from his heyday. Or even a great run game. They just a need a good one to keep defenses honest and provide a measure of offensive balance.

But given that he passed on even visiting Motown, you have to think the Dolphins at least floated the possibility that so long as Foster's healthy, he'll be afforded a chance to vie for top-dog status in the Dolphins backfield.

Foster's brother wrote that's all Arian would need—a chance:

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Arian has always capitalized on every opportunity he’s been given. I have no doubt he will again and that he’ll rise once more to the top of the NFL. It’s really not that far to climb—Arian ranked third in yards after contact just two years ago. All he needs is a chance. The right opportunity.

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And with only Ajayi and the likes of Daniel Thomas and Isaiah Pead ahead of him, Foster saw the same thing I see. The same thing you see. The same thing everyone with eyes can see.

This is it. This is that opportunity.

Whether Foster will make the most of it just shot up the list of storylines to watch when the Dolphins open training camp later this month.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.