Ahead of the NFL’s Week 3 slate of action, the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams made headlines after agreeing to a trade. The deal will shake up the backfield of both teams with Cam Akers being the featured name involved.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Rams are trading Akers to the Vikings in exchange for a swap of 2026 draft picks.
Akers, who was selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, needed to establish a consistent role with the Rams, with a combination of injury and inconsistent utilization playing a role. Last season, he requested a trade midseason after receiving a low volume of touches, but it was denied. He is coming off a 2022 season with totals of 188 carries, 786 rushing yards (4.2 per carry), and seven touchdowns.
Akers received 22 carries in the Rams’ 30-13 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1, but he produced only 29 total yards. He did record a touchdown but averaged a poor 1.3 yards per carry. He was a healthy scratch in Week 2 as Los Angeles sought to navigate the trade market.
A report from Pro Football Network’s Adam Caplan suggested that Akers was not perceived as being a quality performer in regular-season practices. Players that prove problematic in those respects tend to fall out of favor with Rams coach Sean McVay, and negative feedback tends to travel fast.
“McVay, who is known in coaching circles as being down on players who do not perform well in regular-season practices, clearly made the decision to bench Akers, and when he’s down on the player, it’s rarely a well-kept secret around the NFL,” Caplan wrote.
The Vikings did not re-sign Dalvin Cook in the offseason and have relied primarily on Alexander Mattison in the backfield to begin the season. Akers could help to add needed depth at the position as the team seeks to avoid falling to 0-3 when they take on the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
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