Dolphins were right to move Ajayi when they did

The Miami Dolphins made a surprise trade a day before the trade deadline when they shipped starting running back Jay Ajayi to the Eagles for a 4th round 2018 draft pick. Miami may have made the smart move.

Rumors circulated that Ajayi was becoming an unsettling presence in the locker room and in the training facility. Unhappy with his role and usage in Miami, Ajayi was rumored to have had confrontational outbursts with member/s of the Dolphins coaching staff.

When Ajayi was traded the Dolphins fan base was surprised and some upset. Ajay was afterall the Dolphins top rusher and had ran for 200 yards three times in 2016. Yet the Dolphins believed that Ajayi wasn’t a long term player given his knee issues, workload, and attitude.

The 4th round pick Miami received was considered lower than many expected but Miami took the best offer they could get. The trade benefited both Ajayi and the Eagles. Philly was getting a starting caliber running back with a solid 2016 behind him and Ajayi was going to a team that could be contending for a Super Bowl.

But is he happy with the trade? Probably. Is he happy with the Eagles? Maybe not entirely. While some point to Ajayi being more or less cornered in a post-game locker room interview after the Eagles drubbing of the Bears on Sunday, Ajayi appeared to be upset when questioned about his five carry day.

"“My role is to run the plays that the coaches call. That’s what I’ve been doing,” a downbeat Ajayi told reporters. “I’m just running the play that the coaches call. I’m happy with my role.”"

His response was a canned answer that many players use in order to hide their frustrations. Ajayi’s tone was similar to a panned monotone response with little emotion despite the big win.

Ajayi demonstrated similar unhappiness with his lack of usage this year in Miami. In 2016 Ajayi was disciplined by the coaching staf when he got angry over not being named the starting tailback for week one. That went to Arian Foster.

Perhaps Ajayi is just frustrated after a stellar season in 2016 but it is becoming more evident that Ajayi may have some issues to deal with and work through and those issues very well may have been at the root of the Dolphins moving on without him. If that is true, a 4th round pick was worth getting rid of a player who may have disruptive tendencies.