Reynolds: "Adam Gase obviously has a handle on the kind of player he wants, and Jay doesn't fit that"
Saturday 4 November 2017 17:37, UK
A dodgy knee? A poor attitude? A bad teammate?
Whatever the reason behind the Miami Dolphins cutting ties with running back Jay Ajayi on the Philadelphia Eagles before the trade deadline on Tuesday, it was a deal that shocked most NFL observers.
Sky Sports' Neil Reynolds was one of those, and has tried to make sense of why Miami moved on one of their few stars on an offense that is struggling hugely - the NFL's bottom-ranked attack - and a back who had as many as three 200-yard games only a year ago on his way to 1,272 for the season and a trip to the Pro Bowl.
"I was shocked," Reynolds stressed. "Head coach Adam Gase obviously has a firm handle on the kind of player he wants, and Jay doesn't fit that, for whatever reason.
"I know there have been some concerns in Miami - right from when he was drafted - about Jay's knees, and whether he could be a guy who could play eight, nine, years, though it is something Jay has disputed ever since coming into the NFL.
"Also, we don't know what has gone on behind the scenes - you only have to look back to last year, Week One, to see some discord, when the Dolphins left Jay behind on their trip to Seattle because he was sulking at the time about losing the starting job to Arian Foster.
"Maybe this is just what happens when you don't toe the party line in Miami?
"If that's the case, Jay's punishment is being traded to a better team with a chance to win the Super Bowl!"
A better team indeed. Ajayi leaves behind the 4-3 Dolphins, a record that flatters them, for the 7-1 NFL-leading Eagles, who gave up just a fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft for the privilege.
Former Chicago Bears defensive back Shaun Gayle has experienced the business side of football first hand, and believes Ajayi will see the league through a different lens now.
"Being such a young player in making this move, it will open Jay up to the business side of football. Players are commodities," said Gayle.
"Whoever feels you can help them win, or whoever thinks you can't, they won't be afraid to make a move.
"The upside for Jay is he's going to a team that is pretty good."
Philadelphia's success this season has come from a balanced attack, with second-year quarterback Carson Wentz looking like a possible league MVP candidate, while LeGarrette Blount has carried the bulk of the load at running back, and with some success too - 467 yards and two TDs off 100 carries.
Thirty-year-old Blount only arrived from the New England Patriots in the offseason, so it remains to be seen where he, and Ajayi fit in together in the same offense. But, for the cost of only a fourth-round pick, the risk for the Eagles of things not working out isn't too great.
Looking for one positive spin on the move from a Miami perspective, Reynolds sees parallels with the Dolphins and how Blount's former team operate.
"It feels like the sort of move the Patriots would make, where they offload a player before they see a decline," said Reynolds.
But that is a particularly generous outlook.
The reality is that Miami are last in the league in total offense and scoring - they have been shut out twice in seven games, and very nearly a third but for a garbage time TD against the New York Jets in Week Three.
They have now traded away their biggest offensive asset in Ajayi, and were supposedly shopping their other one, with wide receiver Jarvis Landry offered in a trade to multiple teams around the league.
Gayle and Reynolds believe such decisions are symptomatic of a franchise that is lost.
"Somehow they've got a winning record, but the state you find this organisation in, things are not good in Miami," said Gayle.
"You've only got to look at strange decisions like bringing in Jay Cutler at quarterback out of retirement before the season started, trading away Ajayi.
"I don't think anyone else in the league understands it.
"The trade deadline was a very nervous watch for Miami fans for a while," added Reynolds. "This team, especially offensively, is in a right old state - shut out twice, nearly thrice.
"If you took Landry out of that as well, who knows how much worse it could have got. At least he's the kind of guy that if you get the ball to him, he'll try to make things happen down the field.
"For Miami's sake, I'm glad that one didn't happen."
While Landry stays, Ajayi is off to pastures new in Philadelphia. Can the move improve the fortunes of either franchise? Watch them both in action on Sky Sports this Sunday to find out.
Week Nine continues on Sunday with three live games on Sky Sports Action, starting with Denver Broncos @ Philadelphia Eagles, from 5.30pm and ending with Oakland Raiders @ Miami Dolphins from 1.20am.
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