Eagles Land Jay Ajayi

PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) — You didn't really believe Howie Roseman would be sitting on his hands with Tuesday's trade deadline looming, did you?

The Eagles executive vice president of football operations made a blockbuster Tuesday morning, sending a fourth-round pick to Miami for running back Jay Ajayi, a 2016 Pro Bowl selection.

Ajayi is coming off a season in which he rushed for 1,272 yards and eight touchdowns and from a skill-set standpoint is an upgrade for a unit that has gone with a committee approach left by veteran LeGarrette Blount.

The Dolphins have struggled offensively this year after losing starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill to a torn ACL and their coach, Adam Gase, has publicly called out the offense for not doing the extra work away from the facility to succeed.

Gase was looking to send a message and this was it.

Through seven games this season Ajayi has rushed for 465 yards on 138 carries, a scant 3.4 yards per rush, significantly down from the 4.9 he mustered last season.

A former fifth-round pick out of Boise State in 2015, Ajayi burst onto the scene with back-to-back 200-yard rushing performances against Pittsburgh and Buffalo last season.

The Dolphins and the Eagles have history of doing deals together since Mike Tannenbaum arrived in South Florida as executive VP of football operations. Last year Philadelphia sent  Kiko Alonso and Byron Maxwell to the Dolphins in a trade that helped garner the draft capital to move up again in order to draft Carson Wentz.

-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen