Report: Ravens on the verge of trading for Super Bowl champion running back?

The Los Angeles Rams have joined the chat. The one including franchises carrying disgruntled and confused leading running backs is what I'm referring to.

The individual this time is Cam Akers, who is seemingly "confused though blessed" about everything going on around his situation and role within the Rams organization.

Jay Glazer of FOX first informed (per Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic) about Akers being left out of Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers. The team confirmed the news by sitting Akers out, announcing the decision just 10 minutes before kickoff.

Glazer also revealed the Rams were "attempting to trade Akers," who was a healthy scratch and could have played last weekend without any issues.

On Tuesday, NFL Insider Jordan Schultz reported that four teams are interested in Akers, whose contract situation as a pending free agent has sparked trade talks.

The four franchises named by Schultz are the Buccaneers, the Raiders, the Browns, and the Baltimore Ravens.

On Monday, following Sunday's loss to the 49ers, Rams' head coach Sean McVay held a press conference in which he said he "doesn't have any updates" on Akers, revealing that "I I know (GM) Les (Snead) has talked to a handful of teams," as quoted by Stu Jackson of TheRams.com.

The Ravens lost RB1 J.K. Dobbins for the season midway through Week 1 with a torn Achilles, and on Monday the Cleveland Browns saw Nick Chubb go down with a knee injury later ruling him out for the year too.

Both teams are actively seeking short-term solutions, even though Ravens' head coach John Harbaugh has kept saying that the franchise would use an "in-house" solution.

Just last Sunday, the Ravens only used Gus Edwards and Justice Hill with Melvin Gordon (promoted from the Practice Squad ahead of Week 2) not taking a single offensive snap throughout the game.

Cleveland's head coach Kevin Stefanski, on the other hand, acknowledged the need to strengthen their backfield after Chubb's injury. Acquiring Akers could be a cost-effective move for both teams as his contract runs through 2023 before he enters free agency next spring.

Akers had a tough start in 2023, with only 29 rushing yards on 22 carries. This led the Rams to promote Kyren Williams, who is slowly but surely becoming a fantasy darling, if not the latest bargain running back discovery.

At the end of the day, and as it's always been the case since Dobbins went down, any potential trade will ultimately come down to the Rams' trade demands.

It looks like they have little bargain--they scratched Akers for no apparent/public reason last weekend--as it feels the franchise just wants to get rid of the rusher. In any case, this merits tracking with Dobbins done for the year and out of contract next season.

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