Dolphins Headlines: Arian Foster Retires, Fins Sign Bacarri Rambo To Replace Reshad Jones
By Abraham Gutierrez
After their huge win over the Buffalo Bills, the (3-4) Miami Dolphins went into their Week 8 bye week with a few wrinkles to iron out before preparing for the second half of the 2016 NFL season. First, the team dealt with former Pro Bowl running back Arian Foster deciding to call it quits just six games into his eighth season in the National Football League.
The second order of business for the Fins heading into the bye was finding a way to replenish their injury-depleted secondary. In particular, Miami desperately needed to find a way to make up for the loss of Pro Bowl safety Reshad Jones, who will miss the remainder of the season due to a rotator cuff (shoulder) injury.
Arian Foster Retires: "Walking away with peace"
This offseason, the Dolphins took a chance and signed free agent running back Arian Foster, despite the fact that he was coming off surgery to repair a rupture in his Achilles tendon. The gamble would come to a screeching halt less than seven games later.
Following last week's 28-25 victory over the Bills, coupled with Jay Ajayi's sudden rise to the top of the depth chart, there were rumblings that the former Houston Texan was contemplating hanging them up.
On Monday, the 4-time Pro Bowler confirmed those suspicions, as he met with members of the media to make his retirement official. He walks away from the game with 55 rushing yards on 22 attempts as a Dolphin and the following career numbers: 6,527 yards on 1,476 carries, 54 touchdowns, along with 255 receptions for 2,346 yards and 14 scores through the air.
"This game has been everything to me ... my therapy, my joy, my solace and my enemy," Foster wrote. "I've learned to love every facet of this game, from the peak of accomplishment to the gutter of criticism. And it all makes the ride worthwhile. I've been fortunate enough to play many successful years in this league. I've given a lot to this game and given up a lot for it. But it has returned to me more than I could have ever asked for.
"Faceless gladiators have been shuffled in and out of this arena for decades and I'm proud to have taken part in that legacy. My father always said, 'You'll know when it's time to walk away.' It has never been more clear than right now. I'm walking away with peace. I know it's not commonplace to do it midseason, but my body just can't take the punishment this game asks for any longer. ... Every athlete would love to go out as a Super Bowl MVP, riding off into the sunset with the crowd cheering their name. Unfortunately, life has other plans and they're usually opposite the imagination. But that imagination got me this far and I could not be prouder of the things my teammates and I accomplished in this game."
Safety Bacarri Rambo Fills Arian Foster's Roster Spot
On Tuesday, the Dolphins signed former All-American, safety Bacarri Rambo, and placed Foster in the reserve-retired list. One of the positive takeaways about Foster's retirement is that it enabled Miami to ink the ex-Redskin/Bill free agent without having to demote or make any further changes to the current roster.
It is reported that Miami worked out four safeties in an attempt to fill the void left by Jones' season-ending injury: Major Wright, James Ihedigbo, Brandian Ross and Rambo. The team ultimately decided to go with the former sixth-round pick out of Georgia, to add to a safety unit that includes: Isa Abdul-Quddus (nursing knee and ankle injuries), Michael Thomas and Walt Aikens.
Rambo, 26, joins the Miami Dolphins with 100 tackles (75 solo, 25 combined), 2 sacks, 3 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in his NFL career. He becomes the third defensive back the Dolphins have added this month to join cornerbacks Bene Benwikere—claimed off waivers from Carolina Panthers—and Chimdi Chekwa, who was resigned three weeks ago.
In addition to the aforementioned newcomers, Miami also has a 2-week window to decide what to do with cornerback Chris Culliver, who has the option of practicing with the team before being moved off the physically unable to perform list.
