When the Minnesota Vikings struck a trade for Los Angeles Rams running back Cam Akers on Wednesday afternoon, they did so with conditional picks in round six and round seven in 2026 going both ways.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, those picks have a condition where Akers needs to accumulate 500 rushing and receiving yards combined. If he doesn’t, the Vikings keep their sixth-round pick and the Rams keep their seventh-round pick.
Basically, the Vikings put in a waiver claim for Akers and it’s an incredibly low-risk proposition.
The Vikings running game is so paltry right now that trying multiple things to fix it is a smart strategy. Coming out of Florida State, Akers was a second-round pick in 2020 and appeared to have a high-upside. A torn Achilles tendon in August of 2021 really put a damper on his development.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell spent two seasons in Los Angeles with Akers and his knowledge of the player should help maximize him moving forward.
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