Jaguars' Cam Robinson might be Vikings' ideal Darrisaw replacement

Robinson is a proven starter and pending free agent on a bad team.

Sep 23, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Cam Robinson (74) enters the field before a game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

As the Vikings ponder their options for how to replace star left tackle Christian Darrisaw, there's one name that makes the most sense: Cam Robinson.

Robinson checks a ton of boxes. The Jaguars' left tackle is a proven starter, he's on a bad team, and he's in the final year of his contract. On Sunday, he cleared concussion protocol and was active but was left on the bench in favor of younger tackle Walker Little, which may be an indication that Jacksonville is prepared to trade him if it receives a satisfactory offer. Previously, Robinson had started all 94 games where he was healthy since being drafted 34th overall by the Jaguars in 2017.

He's obviously not on Darrisaw's level, because few are, but Robinson is a known commodity as a good starting LT who is better in pass protection than run blocking. At 6'6" and 335 pounds, the 29-year-old is simply a massive human being. These are his Pro Football Focus grades over the last five seasons:

Cam Robinson's PFF grades since 2020. / Pro Football Focus

Last year, Robinson's pass-blocking grade ranked 16th out of the 70 tackles who played at least 500 snaps in the regular season. He's like if Dalton Risner played tackle, but a little better than that (if that makes sense). He's been playing well recently, too, bouncing back from a poor Week 3 game against the Bills by allowing just two total pressures between Weeks 4 and 6.

The question is what it would take for Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to get a deal done with the Jaguars' Trent Baalke, who he knows from their time together in the 49ers' front office. The key here is that Robinson's contract makes it theoretically possible that the Vikings could acquire him for just a Day 3 pick, depending on how much of his salary they take on.

Robinson has a $16.25 million base salary this season in the final year of his contract. When you prorate that with ten weeks to go, he's still owed a little over $9 million for the rest of the season (or around $8.1 million if traded after this Sunday but before Tuesday's deadline). According to Over the Cap, the Vikings are around $9.5 million under the salary cap right now. That means they'd likely need to create some space to take on Robinson's deal and still have breathing room.

If the Vikings were to take on all of that $9 million or so, they might be able to get Robinson for just a fifth or sixth-round pick. To do that, they'd have to free up space, likely via a restructure or extension elsewhere on the roster. They could also potentially see if the Jaguars have interest in a young player like Brian Asamoah or Akayleb Evans and clear around $1-1.2 million in space that way.

The other possibility is that Jacksonville could eat some money to facilitate a trade and get a better pick back as a result. Maybe that's a fourth-rounder in 2026 or something along those lines (the Vikings only have their first-rounder and two fifths in next year's draft at the moment).

There would be plenty of details to work out, but on paper, the Vikings trading for Robinson makes a lot of sense. He's a pure rental who could hold down the fort on a contending team for the rest of this season. Because of his contract, he wouldn't cost a lot in terms of draft pick compensation. And his track record is such that he'd clearly bring a much higher floor to an important position than any of the Vikings' in-house options to replace Darrisaw (David Quessenberry, Blake Brandel, Walter Rouse).

Make the call, Kwesi.

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