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The door on Jay Ajayi returning to the Philadelphia Eagles does not appear to be closed shut. Les Bowen caught up with Ajayi’s agent at the NFL owners meetings and offered this update:
Agent Drew Rosenhaus says Jay Ajayi’s visit with the Colts last week went well, but, obviously, no agreement reached yet. Says he is maintaining discussions with the Eagles. Expects Ajayi to be ready for the start of the season, probably not much before that.
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) March 25, 2019
As noted last week, the fact that Ajayi left Indianapolis without a contract potentially helps the Eagles’ leverage in re-signing him. We saw how Ronald Darby signed a relatively team-friendly deal with the Eagles after Darby’s visit with the Chiefs ended without an acceptable offer.
The thing working against the Eagles’ leverage is that running back is a huge need for them. There’s just no way Philly can sit tight with the five guys they currently have under contract: Corey Clement, Wendell Smallwood, Josh Adams, Boston Scott, and Donnel Pumphrey.
This update from Bowen hardly reads that an Ajayi re-signing is imminent. But it is worth noting that the Eagles have been active at the NFL owner meetings in the past. During the 2017 meetings, the Eagles signed Patrick Robinson and Chris Long. Maybe Howie Roseman and Rosenhaus will find the time to meet in person and talk about Ajayi’s status this week.
Ajayi clearly hasn’t been a priority for the Eagles. He’s still a free agent despite the fact legal tampering began two weeks ago. Ajayi’s market obviously isn’t helped by the fact he tore his ACL in early October 2018. Philly might be open to bringing him back on a “prove it” deal but they’re not going to spend big to keep him.
We’ll eventually see how this one shakes out. For now, we know the two sides are at least communicating with each other.