The Rams and Cam Akers are parting ways. ... Los Angeles is sending Akers to Minnesota via trade.

The Rams and Vikings will swap 2026 late-round picks as part of the deal.

As NFL.com notes, Akers' time in Los Angeles was tumultuous to say the least.

The former second-round pick began his career by averaging 4.3 yards per carry as a rookie in 2020, then played in just one regular-season game in 2021 due to an Achilles injury suffered during offseason activities. The fact he returned at all that season remains a remarkable achievement, but after winning a Super Bowl with Los Angeles, Akers became displeased with his role in the Rams offense in 2022, requesting a trade and stepping away from the team while awaiting a decision on his fate.

Los Angeles decided to keep Akers, welcoming him back to the team following the trade deadline. He went on to post some of the best games of his career down the stretch in 2022, but failed to sustain that momentum through 2023.

Backup Kyren Williams outperformed Akers in Los Angeles' season-opening win over Seattle, and with Akers sensing he'd lose snaps to Williams in the weeks ahead, a chasm developed between coach Sean McVay's staff and the running back. McVay decided to play Week 2 without Akers, making him a healthy scratch for the Rams' eventual loss to the 49ers, all but sealing his fate in Los Angeles.

Akers heads to Minnesota with the hopes of finding a more prominent role in Kevin O'Connell's offense.

The Vikings have an NFL-low 69 rushing yards this season after bidding farewell to former starter Dalvin Cook and replacing him with longtime backup Alexander Mattison. They have also attempted only 23 carries by running backs while funneling most of their offense through a passing game that has produced the NFL's second-most yards (674).

The Vikings have started the season 0-2, and O'Connell has said multiple times in recent days that he wants the running game to get more reliable and efficient. On Tuesday, the Vikings signed free agent guard Dalton Risner with hopes of getting him into the starting lineup in the coming weeks.

Wednesday's deal to acquire Akers reunited him with both O'Connell and Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips, both of whom were with the Rams during the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Speaking Wednesday before the trade was announced, O'Connell said: "It's one of the fun parts of the job when you can visually and collectively as a group identify some things and [say], 'Let's go fix them. Let's go try to do them better and see what that looks like.'"

The Vikings have been seeking depth behind Mattison since backup Kene Nwangwu suffered a back injury in training camp and ultimately went on injured reserve. They hosted free agent Kareem Hunt on a visit in August and signed veteran Myles Gaskin after the Miami Dolphins released him as part of their final roster cuts.

Second-year player Ty Chandler has served as Mattison's backup for the first two games, but he has gotten only 19 snaps as a running back.

It remains to be seen if Akers will replace Chandler on the depth chart or whether the Vikings will push him toward Mattison's role. We'll be watching for more on that in coming days.