The Vikings Should Sign an Old Friend
The Minnesota Vikings don’t need too many more changes or new players for their current roster. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has used the last two months to build a nifty depth chart that can reasonably contend for a Super Bowl if quarterback J.J. McCarthy is ready for the bright lights of the NFL.
The Vikings Should Sign an Old Friend
But the franchise has about $17 million in cap space, and teams typically add a couple of newcomers between now and the start of the season.
So, Minnesota should keep this thing simple. Don’t complicate it. Sign running back Cam Akers, an old friend.
Recommendation: Sign Cam Akers
Adofo-Mensah has five running backs on his depth chart: Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason, Ty Chandler, Tre Stewart, and Zavier Scott.
That’s enough per quantity, but Akers would represent an upgrade per quality. He’s a trustworthy RB2 in a pinch and blocks in the passing game, often a prerequisite in Kevin O’Connell’s offense. Akers has not signed anywhere in free agency through eight weeks, and at 25 years old, he needs a new place of employment.
That should be the Vikings, the team that added him to the roster in back-to-back seasons, 2023 and 2024.
Two Trades in Back-to-Back Years
In 2023 and 2024, the Vikings sent a conditional 6th-Round pick to the Los Angeles Rams and Houston Texans, respectively, for Akers’ services. The trade(s) paid off in each scenario, as head coach Kevin O’Connell was unfraid to thrust Akers into the offense.
Here’s the deal: Adofo-Mensah can sign Akers pain-free today. He doesn’t have to ship draft picks anywhere to secure a player everyone knows he enjoys.
It’s actually become a playful joke among purple fans — set your calendars this autumn for the Cam Akers trade.
Adofo-Mensah could avoid the trade wire and onboard Akers with a modest contract at this very moment. And he should do that. Why not?
Akers Preferred over Ty Chandler Last Year; Why Not Now?
Last October, Adofo-Mensah sent the aforementioned 6th-Rounder to Houston for Akers because it preferred him to Ty Chandler in the RB2 role.
What changed since then? Anything? Folks already have verifiable proof that Minnesota favored Akers over Chandler. Would its mindset really change in an offseason? No.
If Chandler wasn’t a dependable RB2 solution in the middle of the 2024 season, Akers as the RB3 in 2025 over Chandler makes more sense. The sweet part? The Vikings can probably sign Akers for a million bucks. Maybe two.
It’s a no-brainer.
Proved His Worth with One Play
If fans are on the fence about an Akers reunion, let this transaction serve as a reminder. Akers sealed the deal late last season in a contest against the Green Bay Packers, and in fact, this was the last promising play of Minnesota’s season. Everything turned rotten after this.
That’s the kind of player you want on a roster, especially as a reliable RB3 who can be signed for a couple of million bucks.
PurplePTSD’s Take
Kyle Joudry at our partner site, PurplePTSD.com, also endorsed the Akers signing.
He wrote last week: “Why make it three years in a row? Just sign Cam Akers. For consecutive seasons, Minnesota has had to move out low-level draft capital to get the runner to town. Doing so has given the RB room a minor boost in each instance. Should the team simply opt to sign him to a deal now, foregoing the ritual once the trade deadline starts to appear on the horizon?”
“Currently, the top twosome consists of Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason. Both seem likely to get a hearty workload. Jones is capable of doing more as a pass catcher while Mason seems to run with a good degree of wallop, something that will fit in well with the Vikings’ high-skill offense.”
Akers worked with O’Connell in Los Angeles for two seasons back in 2020 and 2021 as well.
Joudry added, “Cam Akers, 25, was a 2nd-Round selection back in the 2020 NFL Draft (the Justin Jefferson year). He rushed for 444 yards last season in his 104 carries, working out to a 4.3 yards-per-carry average.”
“Of note is that his average carry in Minnesota — remember: he began the year with the Texans before being traded to the Vikings — went for 4.6 yards. Could be a nice upgrade at RB3.”
Vikings.com‘s Rob Kleifeld also unearthed a nifty Akers stat earlier this offseason: “38.9% — Akers ranked fifth in the NFL per Pro Football Focus in percentage of runs gaining 15-plus yards, a.k.a. a breakaway, among running backs with at least 100 rushes. Akers accounted for eight such runs in his backup role, including mad dashes of 58 and 26 yards in Minnesota’s last two games.”
“The only RBs to break away more frequently were Jerome Ford (45.1%), Derrick Henry (42.6%), Jahmyr Gibbs (41.8%) and Saquon Barkley (41.7%). Jones ranked 34th at the position (18.3%) — he was 23rd in 2023 at 25.1%.”
Akers Alternatives
If not Akers, Minnesota can obviously just roll with Chandler and hope this time will be different. The club also has undrafted free agent rookie Tre Stewart hungry for a regular season roster spot.
On the open market, in addition to Akers, Nick Chubb, Gus Edwards, Nyheim Hines, D’Ernest Johnson, and Jamaal Williams are available. Chubb would likely command a larger workload, but the others would nicely slip into an RB3 job.
But this would be much easier if Adofo-Mensah took the plunge with Akers. No trade needed.
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