Don't count on the Cam Akers trade to give the LA Rams draft help

Even as the LA Rams appear to be rolling right along with a rejuvenated ground assault thanks to the persistence of RB Kyren Williams, LA Rams fans still have a vested interest in how well former running back Cam Akers performs for the Minnesota VIkings. Why is that? Well, we will explain everything in this article.

It was originally reported that the LA Rams Rams had traded RB Cam Akers and their 2026 seventh-round pick in return for the Minnesota Vikings 2026 sixth-round pick. And while that is essentially true, it ignores one very important condition that must be met in order for the draft pick swap to be triggered. So what is that condition that is so important?

It turns out that Cam Akers must combine to generate 500 yards of offense for the Minnesota Vikings this season for the draft swap to take effect:

At the time, not much was said about those conditions, but they may prove to be very important.

Can Cam clear conditions?

Even still, that condition seemed relatively simple to meet. After all, Akers debuted in the Minnesota Vikings offense by delivering 40 yards rushing and 11 yards receiving. But now, after three games, Cam Akers has only delivered 84 combined yards: 63 yards rushing and 21 yards receiving. Perhaps even more disappointing is the fact that Akers is averaging 5.7 yards per run.

With a total of just 84 yards in three games, current projects are that Cam Akers will fall significantly short of that 500 combined yards goal that triggers even a modest draft pick swap. In essence, it's as though the Rams had outright waived Akers and the Vikings were able to successfully claim him off waivers.

It is all quite familiar to the way the Rams outright released RB Darrell Henderson Jr. in the midst of the 2022 NFL season. The Rams front office appears to be more than happy to part ways with players who are not producing to expectations rather quickly.

In the end, the Rams appear more and more likely not to get anything in return for trading Cam Akers to the Minnesota Vikings. And that may not be concerning to many Rams fans. But this is just one more occasion where the Rams, for the right or wrong reasons, have chosen to part ways with a player who was contributing. Cam Akers was rushing for 100+ yards per game at the end of the 2022 season.

At what point does this become serious? At what point does shedding players for next to nothing cross that line? I don't know the answer to that one, but nobody really does. And that is what concerns me most.