Report: Vikings add running back depth, trade for Cam Akers

The Minnesota Vikings have made a trade three weeks before the trade deadline, reportedly acquiring Cam Akers from the Houston Texans for the second straight year.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Texans will receive a 2026 conditional sixth-round pick while the Vikings will receive Akers and a 2026 conditional seventh-round pick in the trade.

Report: Vikings add running back depth, trade for Cam Akers

If this sounds familiar, it’s because the Vikings acquired Akers from the Los Angeles Rams in September 2023 in a trade involving conditional 2026 late-round picks. A second-round pick out of Florida State in the 2020 draft, Akers served in a reserve role carrying the ball 38 times for 138 yards and a touchdown in six games with Minnesota before suffering a torn left Achilles’ during a game against the Atlanta Falcons last November.

With Akers suffering a right Achilles’ tear shortly after his rookie year with the Rams, the Vikings opted to let the 25-year-old leave in free agency after the 2023 season but not before they tried to re-sign him last July. 

Akers failed the physical and signed with the Texans a few weeks later and made the team out of training camp while Ty Chandler manned the backup role to Aaron Jones.

Letting Akers go proved to be a mistake for the Vikings as Chandler has run for 147 yards on 42 carries and has a 38.1 percent success rate which measures how frequently a running back picks up 40 percent of yards needed on first down, 60 percent of yards on second down and 100 percent of yards on third and fourth down.

Chandler ran for just 30 yards on 14 attempts after Aaron Jones suffered an injury in an Oct. 6 win over the New York Jets in London and with Jones still nursing a hip injury, the Vikings added Akers, who has 147 yards and a touchdown on 40 carries with a 30 percent success rate this season.

With previous experience in the offense, it shouldn’t take long for Akers to get up to speed and he should provide some extra insurance as Minnesota looks to continue its push as a contender in the NFC.

More Vikings news and analysis