The Minnesota Vikings surprised the NFL world with their 14 wins in 16 games to open the 2024 regular season.
One thing that team, and coaching staff, probably isn’t getting enough credit for? They accomplished that feat despite one of the best left tackles in football, Christian Darrisaw, exiting with a season-ending knee injury in Week 8.
The Vikings thus needed to rent a left tackle, and they found one in veteran Cam Robinson, a career-long starter who had fallen out of favor with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Robinson was far from dominant in his 11 games with the Vikings, but Minnesota ripped off a nine-game win streak with Robinson in the lineup, and he performed well enough to land a one-year, $12 million contract from the Houston Texans this offseason.
Robinson’s chops as a starter is questionable entering his age-30 season, and NFL analyst Lou Scataglia doesn’t like the move for quarterback C.J. Stroud. Scataglia recently called Robinson’s contract the worst on GM Nick Caserio’s books entering the 2025 season. Here was his take:
I kind of understand why the Houston Texans traded Laremy Tunsil, but with Cam Robinson projected to start at LT for them in 2025, QB CJ Stroud might be running for his life. Robinson just isn't a good player and is probably going to make life harder for Stroud in the pocket. The deal he inked with Houston this offseason pays him an average value of $12 million per year. It's a one-year deal, so Houston doesn't have to stick with Robinson beyond 2025.
But if this was their plan all along for 2025 after trading Tunsil, they should have honestly just kept the veteran tackle.
There’s no arguing Scataglia’s overall point here — going from five-time Pro Bowler Laremy Tunsil to Cam Robinson at left tackle is a significant step in the wrong direction. Robinson only played 11 games for the Vikings after getting traded from Jacksonville mid-season; he still surrendered a team-high 49 total pressures, including 12 in Minnesota’s playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
At this point, Robinson’s probably better suited to be a swing tackle. The Vikings could have signed him back for that type of role, given the uncertain timeline for Darrisaw’s return this summer, but the price tag was clearly too high. Minnesota was happy to work the compensatory pick formula and let Robinson walk for $12 million.
The Texans made a few moves for depressed assets with potential upside this offseason, like safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and wide receiver Christian Kirk. Robinson’s one-year deal for $10.75 million in guarantees is far from an outlier, but that could change if his production continues on what has been a downward trend.
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