Kalen Ballage fails physical so Miami Dolphins trade is nixed
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins sent Kalen Ballage to the New York Jets last week but it will be Ballage who gets the last laugh.
On August 27th, the Miami Dolphins swung a deal with the New York Jets to reunite running back Kalen Ballage with his former Dolphins coach Adam Gase.
Unfortunately, that will no longer be a trade Miami will get rewarded for. It is being reported that Ballage failed his physical with a hamstring injury, which means the trade is off.
The rights to Ballage will go back to the Dolphins but reports indicated that Miami was ready to release Ballage before the Jets stepped in and made a deal. Chances are, Ballage won’t be back with Miami and will be free agent soon.
Of course, this all means that the Jets could possibly land Ballage for free if he is released and clears waivers. The Jets would simply wait until he is healthy and then sign him.
More intrigue for former #Dolphins RB Kalen Ballage, who was to be traded to the #Jets: Source said he failed his physical with #NYJ because of a hamstring injury. So Ballage reverts back to MIA, who likely releases him. He could end up back with the #Jets when healed.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 30, 2020
Ballage did not have a good season with Miami last year but none of the Dolphins running backs did. Ryan Fitzpatrick was the teams leading rusher in 2019.
Ballage was drafted as part of the Mike Tannebaum, Adam Gase, and Chris Grier trio of power but how much influence Grier actually had during those years really is not known. Gase was making power moves during his three seasons with the Dolphins and none of them worked out.
Ballage was taken in the 2018 draft and many thought he would replace Jay Ajayi and would pair well with Kenyan Drake. Since 2015, the Dolphins have let Lamar Miller leave via free agency, traded Jay Ajayi and Kenyan Drake, tried to trade Ballage, and traded for Matt Breida after signing Jordan Howard. The wheels keep churning I suppose.