Cam Akers was supposed to be the Rams’ next star running back after Todd Gurley. They selected him 52nd overall in 2020 after he put up impressive numbers on a terrible Florida State team, hoping that success would continue in the NFL.
Unfortunately, his time in Los Angeles ended prematurely and somewhat unceremoniously. The Rams traded him to the Minnesota Vikings this week, and the return was minimal: a late-round pick swap in 2026.
Buy Rams TicketsThis deal came a year after Sean McVay all but benched Akers and had him step away from the team for three weeks. Akers returned and played well to end the 2022 season, but he started this year slow and was a healthy scratch in Week 2.
McVay is revered as a player’s coach and can often make things work no matter what, but that wasn’t the case with Akers. McVay doesn’t feel any sense of failure in this situation, though.
“No, I wouldn’t say that,” McVay said Thursday. “I think that’s kind of an easy narrative. Like I said, I think what we’re interested in is making decisions that we feel like are in the best interest of the team and there’s a lot of layers to it, but I am grateful for Cam and I wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”
McVay said earlier this week that he felt there was open and clear communication between himself and Akers, which is why the running back’s tweet about being “just as confused as everybody else” caught him by surprise.
There was a clear disconnect between the Rams and Akers throughout this situation so it was probably best that they went their separate ways. McVay is still appreciative of Akers’ time in Los Angeles, even if it didn’t go according to plan.
“Sometimes you have to be able to make tough decisions and I’m very grateful for the things that Cam did over the course of his career,” McVay said. “I’m always going to make decisions that I think are in the best interest of the football team and that’s not a personal indictment on him. He’s a very good player, did a lot of really good things. Sometimes you’re looking at the situation for him and for our team and we felt like Minnesota was excited.”
