The Minnesota Vikings brought in running back Cam Akers last season to potentially fill the running back hole left by Dalvin Cook. It appeared that Akers was on the path to being that guy until he suffered his second torn Achilles tendon in three seasons.
That injury didn’t just end his season, it stalled out a promising start to his Vikings career. Once free agency began, there wasn’t a lot of interest in Akers but he was still healing from his injury. Once July hit, things began to get interesting.
At the beginning of July, reports were scattered about the Vikings’ interest in bringing Akers back. The NFL wire hadn’t shown the Vikings had brought back Akers but ESPN’s transaction wire had them agreeing to terms pending a physical on July 2nd.
On Sunday, that all changed. Akers was reported to have worked out with the Houston Texans. Later during the day, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson reported that Akers had in fact signed with the Texans.
What happened with the Vikings and Akers? There seems to be one logical answer: he failed his physical. Now, this has not been confirmed but it’s the logical solution considering how events unfolded.
Where does this leave the Vikings and their running back room? It’s certainly less competition in the room for the third running back spot. The Vikings could try and bring another back in for competition but Akers coming back felt more like head coach Kevin O’Connell wanting a familiar face.
It’s certainly disappointing that the Vikings couldn’t secure Akers’ services but its’s great that he got a job.
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