As first reported by Nick Underhill on Monday, the New Orleans Saints have cut veteran running back Cam Akers. With this move being the latest roster transaction in a flurry of activity leading up to Tuesday’s deadline to set their 53-man roster. Akers is a reclamation project. Akers signed with the Saints in June. He’s now competing for a backup job behind star running back Alvin Kamara.
While he did show promise, Akers didn’t make it on the Saints’ 53-man roster. The team boasts a talented set of running backs. That list starts with Kamara, Kendre Miller, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Devin Neal, Marcus Yarns and Velus Jones Jr.
Saints coach Kellen Moore admitted it was a tough decision to release Akers, knowing how talented the league is in that regard.
“Difficult one, because he’s a really good running back in this league,” – Kellen Moore
Moore further elaborated on the strength of the team’s running back group, stating, “We just felt like, the depth of that room, Kendre [Miller] did a phenomenal job… We’ll finalize the rest of this running back group, but we feel like we have a really good group there.”
As the Saints continue to work through these first roster cuts, they are far from finalizing their roster. Parting ways with Akers represents a more clear cut strategic shift. This move is to shore up their depth chart ahead of what they hope is a superbowl run next season.
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