Miami Dolphins Arian Foster’s retirement comes with questions

On Monday it was announced by now former Miami Dolphins running back Arian Foster that he was calling it a career after eight seasons. The question is why now?

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There has been question that Foster has battled injuries the last few years and he started the 2016 season injured again on the first series of week two. The groin injury sidelined him for the next four weeks but Foster was able to return to practice and was able to make an appearance against the Steelers and the Bills this past Sunday.

With his return came a big decrease in work. In week one Foster carried the ball 13 times and caught three passes for 62 yards. In week two he carried the ball three times before his injury. It was a carry total he would match but not exceed against the Steelers and the Bills.

With Foster now healthy or at least healthier it’s a bit of surprise that heading into the team bye week would be when he would make his announcement and it’s somewhat questionable. Perhaps he is realizing his body has just had enough or maybe it was something else.

Between social media and fan forums speculation has run rampant in the last 24 hours. Some are calling Foster a quitter. A player who is leaving his team mid-way through the season. Others are saying that he realizes that his body can’t take it. Then there is other speculation.

One such speculation centers on Foster not taking the back-up roll to Ajayi all too well. Seeing Ajayi rush for over 200 yards in consecutive weeks may be the realization that Foster won’t be getting his starting job back. So is it an ego thing?

At the very least he is getting paid. His salary is guaranteed for the season as a vested veteran who was on the teams roster for week one. The Dolphins paid Foster $1.3 million for the season. It’s unclear if they will get any of that back.

Another speculative rumor is that the Dolphins planned to release Ajayi during the bye week and they gave Foster the opportunity to end his career his way instead. The Dolphins are getting production out of Ajayi and Damien Williams saw an uptick in carries and involvement as well.

It’s not a too far-fetched scenario but would also leave open the question of whether Foster really wanted to stop playing football. In the end, it may have been a combination of all those things that finally brough Foster to the realization that his career in the NFL was at an end.

Many players never make it in the NFL and Foster did as an undrafted running back. He parlayed that into 8 seasons with several of those at or near the top in the league rushing total. Not a bad career for a guy that 32 teams passed up in the draft.