Category: Cam Robinson

What could a potential Cam Robinson extension look like?

If the Jaguars decided to sign Robinson to an extension, what could that deal look like?

It came as a bit of a surprise when Jacksonville decided to place the franchise tag on fifth-year offensive tackle Cam Robinson. Though he’s far from a bad starter, injuries have limited him throughout his career, and his play when healthy didn’t exactly justify the $13.8 million the Jaguars are on the hook for paying him in 2021.

Still, finding a starting-caliber tackle is one of the most difficult tasks in football, and with a rookie quarterback in Trevor Lawrence to protect, the Jags didn’t have much of a choice other than to keep Robinson around for at least one more season. He’s likely not part of the team’s plans beyond this season, with either 2021 second-round pick Walker Little or someone else expected to take over in 2022.

But if Robinson can stay healthy and take a step forward this season, those plans could change. If the Jaguars decided to sign him to an extension, what could that deal look like? Spotrac estimates Robinson’s market value as being $11.3 million per year, a salary that would rank just 19th among left tackles in the league. It also predicts that an extension for Robinson would be for four years.

Spotrac arrived at this number by making statistical and contractual comparisons, and the players deemed most comparable to Robinson are Taylor Lewan, Taylor Decker, Dion Dawkins, and Donovan Smith. All of those players except Smith signed extensions of at least four years.

This would be a more affordable deal for the Jags than what they’re giving him this year, but it would still be the team’s third-most expensive deal overall. Unless Robinson’s play improves significantly, the Jags will probably look to go in a different direction. And if he does make a considerable improvement, any extension would likely need to be more in line with what the league’s top tackles are making. Because of that, it seems like this deal wouldn’t ever come to fruition.

Pair of offensive linemen are Jaguars’ 2021 X-factors

The play of Jacksonville’s two offensive tackles, Cam Robinson and Jawaan Taylor, will be crucial in the development of Trevor Lawrence.

Jacksonville did a lot this offseason to bolster both the offense and the defense, but the most momentous move was the decision to draft quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick. For the first time in decades, the Jaguars have a franchise quarterback, but his play as a rookie will be largely determined by other variables around him, most notably the play of the offensive line.

The Jaguars have one of the league’s more experienced units, and it allowed for rookie running back James Robinson to finish fifth in rushing in 2020. Now with another playmaker in the backfield in first-round pick Travis Etienne, the play of the offensive line will be key this season, both in establishing the run and protecting Lawrence.

According to Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon, the Jags have two “X-factors” in 2021, and they both play along the offensive line. While the interior of the Jags’ line is solid, there are a bit more questions at the tackle spots. The team chose to franchise tag Cam Robinson this offseason, and his play hasn’t quite lived up to his payday this year. But the team was desperate to make sure it had a starting-caliber player along the blindside, and Robinson fits that bill.

On the other side is Jawaan Taylor, who was the Jags’ second-round pick in 2019 and has great potential. The former second-round pick is listed as an X-factor, alongside Robinson.

We’re cheating here and giving you two relatively young second-round picks who will start at the same critical position and be charged with making sure Trevor Lawrence’s rookie season is less dangerous than Joe Burrow’s was with the Bengals in 2020.

PFF ranked the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive line in the bottom 12 last year, and much of that had to do with the fact that offensive tackles Cam Robinson, 25, and Jawaan Taylor, 23, didn’t get the job done.

But the Jags are rolling with the status quo for Lawrence. They somewhat surprisingly hit Robinson with the franchise tag, and they seem to be hoping Taylor can break out in his third season. They did draft offensive tackle Walker Little in Round 2, but he’s got a small college sample and a large injury history, so they’re putting most of their eggs in baskets belonging to Robinson and Taylor.

If both can put it together in Urban Meyer’s offense, Lawrence will have a good chance of meeting expectations as a rookie No. 1 overall pick. If not, he could be running for his life for much of 2021.

Though Jacksonville certainly could have upgraded at tackle this offseason with players like Trent Williams and Orlando Brown, none of those options worked out or came at a reasonable cost by the Jags’ standards. In Robinson, the team at least secures a guy who is capable of getting the job done. Taylor has much more of a future on the team, but he needs to take a step up this season.

Expectations are high for Lawrence as a rookie, even though he’s inheriting a team that went 1-15 last year. But if he’s going to meet (or exceed) those expectations, he’ll need some help. And that will start with the players tasked with blocking premier NFL edge rushers in Robinson and Taylor.

Does Cam Robinson have the hottest seat for the Jags?

Cam Robinson has the least job security of any Jacksonville player, according to Bleacher Report.

Many expected Jacksonville to move on from offensive tackle Cam Robinson, whose rookie contract expired after 2020, this offseason. With free agents available like veteran Trent Williams, as well as potential trade options like Orlando Brown, it seemed the Jaguars were primed to head in a different direction.

But none of those options panned out, and the team found itself in a difficult position when it came to protecting the blindside of first-overall pick quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Ultimately, the Jags decided to franchise tag Robinson, guaranteeing that he’ll be on the roster at least through the 2021 season.

But with that being said, his future with the team is far from secure, and there’s a good chance this year will be his final one in Jacksonville. According to Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski, he’s on the hottest seat of any Jaguars player.

Surprisingly, the Jacksonville Jaguars placed the franchise tag on left tackle Cam Robinson. A franchise tag brings expectations. However, Robinson hasn’t played like a top-shelf blindside protector at any point in his career.

“We realized that he has a great future. His ceiling is very high,” head coach Urban Meyer told reporters. “… We feel that the way this free agency is moving, is that left tackle position—as always, but even more now this year, from hearing from the guys who have been in the NFL—this is a tough year for that left tackle position.”

Meyer conceded that the team probably wouldn’t be in a position to upgrade.

Basically, the Jaguars settled and overpaid for a marginal player with significant upside. Unless Robinson seriously outperforms what he’s done earlier in this career, there’s very little chance he’ll live up to this year’s $13.8 million cap hit and get a similar deal next offseason.

It’s hard to argue with Sobleski that Jacksonville overpaid from a pure value perspective, especially given Robinson’s shaky injury history. But at the same time, if it had let Robinson walk in free agency, the team would have almost certainly downgraded at the position.

However, his eventual replacement may already be on the roster. The Jaguars selected Stanford offensive tackle Walker Little with the 45th pick in the second round, a player many considered a first-round talent before suffering a season-ending injury in Week 1 of 2019 and opting out of the 2020 season.

Little likely won’t be ready for significant playing time this year, but it seems as though he was selected to eventually take over for Robinson, potentially next season.

There’s a lot of pressure on Robinson in 2021 to earn his nearly $14 million payday. If he’s going to do that, it will take the best season of his career, by far.

New CBS 2022 mock draft has Jags addressing OL in Round 1

Zion Nelson has been a bit inconsistent over his first two seasons at Miami, but the junior seems poised for a breakout year in 2021.

Though many expected the Jacksonville Jaguars to make a splashy addition at offensive tackle this offseason, nothing of the sort ever materialized. Instead, the team franchise tagged Cam Robinson and drafted Walker Little from Stanford in the second round with the 45th pick, a high-risk/reward player who hasn’t played since suffering a season-ending injury in the first week of the season in 2019.

With Robinson not likely to remain on the roster after the 2021 season (barring a huge year), the Jaguars could enter next offseason with tackle at the top of their list of needs regardless of how the season plays out. That would especially be the case of right tackle Jawaan Taylor struggled, too.

That’s why in this CBS Sports 2022 NFL mock draft, the Jags (who are projected to have another disappointing season next year, netting the fifth pick) target an offensive tackle in Miami’s Zion Nelson.

Zion Nelson is already a really good prospect, and I think the sky is the limit for him. His movement skills and physical profile are top of the line.

Nelson is expected to have a big junior year for Miami. A three-star recruit and just the No. 114 offensive tackle in the country coming out of high school in Sumter, South Carolina, Nelson’s only FBS offers before Miami got in the mix were Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Western Kentucky and Appalachian State (where he was originally committed). He came out of nowhere to win the Hurricanes’ starting left tackle job before his true freshman season in 2019.

He started every game for Miami that season, and as a true sophomore in 2020, he appeared in 10 games and started seven (including the final six). At 6-foot-5, 316 pounds, Nelson has fairly ideal size to play the position in the NFL. But he’s had to overcome his share of struggles, as well.

According to Pro Football Focus, Nelson allowed 12 sacks as a true freshman (the most in the country). But over the last six games of the 2020 season — after he had fought to earn his starting job back — he allowed just five pressures and two sacks. His play during that span earned him the 12th-highest pass-blocking grade from PFF among Power Five left tackles.

This mock draft has him as the first offensive lineman off the board, but he’ll need to continue to improve to solidify his case. He has a good number of believers, though, as ESPN’s Todd McShay also projected that Nelson would be the fifth pick in the 2022 draft.

His run-blocking still has a bit of a way to go, but much of that can be attributed to being undersized for a tackle in the past, especially as a freshman. Now up to 316 pounds, he should improve upon his below-average to average run-blocking grades from the last two seasons. If he can, someone will likely pull the trigger on him early in the first round of next year’s draft.

Cam Robinson officially signs franchise tag

It was reported on March 18 that Cam Robinson would agree to the franchise tag, and now that’s official.

Though it had initially been reported on March 18 that offensive tackle Cam Robinson “accepted” the franchise tag with the Jacksonville Jaguars, his choice to sign it didn’t become official until Friday. Now, the fifth-year player has agreed to the tag, meaning if Jacksonville doesn’t sign Robinson to a long-term deal by July 15, he will play the 2021 season at a salary of $13.8 million.

Robinson has started every game he’s appeared in since the Jaguars took him in the second round in 2017. After an encouraging rookie year, he missed nearly the entire 2018 season with a torn ACL. He returned and started most of the last two seasons, but he struggled a bit. As a result, there were some speculations that the Jags would target a veteran tackle like Trent Williams.

But either those stakes were too high or the Jaguars decided Robinson was good enough to tag, and though it’s unknown if he’ll be on the roster beyond this season, a strong outing in 2021 could obviously change that.

Report: OT Cam Robinson accepts franchise tag

the Jaguars will have their stating left tackle for 2021 locked in soon as Cam Robinson is in the process of accepting the franchise tag.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will soon have another pending free agent from their 2020 roster signed in left tackle Cam Robinson. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the veteran is in the process of signing the franchise tag the Jags placed on him, which will lock him up on a one-year deal.

The Jags decided to tag Robinson on March 9, which was the deadline to assign the contract. Once he signs the tag, he will be due to make a fully guaranteed contract worth just under $14 million. Robinson and the Jags could also work out a long-term deal before the league’s deadline on July 15.

Robinson will probably be tasked with protecting Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence on the blindside this season as he is the player most expect them to select first overall. He’ll have plenty of experience manning the blindside with 47 starts to his name, and he’s been a starter since the Jags drafted him in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Since joining the Jags, Robinson has been a pretty solid run blocker but inconsistent in pass protection. However, if he can show improvement, there shouldn’t be a reason the Jags won’t look to lock him up on a long-term deal down the road.

Robinson registered a Pro Football Focus grade of 61.7 last season. They also have him down for five sacks allowed and five penalties in 2020.

CBS Sports lists Jaguars among the losers at the franchise tag deadline

Several Jags targets were tagged by their teams, and Jacksonville made a somewhat controversial tag decision.

Tuesday was not a good day if you’re a Jacksonville Jaguars fan. The organization may lead the NFL in available cap space, but it can’t control the personnel decisions made by other teams. And at the franchise tag deadline, a number of high-profile Jags free agent targets were tagged by their teams, meaning they won’t hit the open market.

Among these players are Chicago Bears receiver Allen Robinson and Giants defensive tackle Leonard Williams. Further, Jacksonville chose to exercise its franchise tag on left tackle Cam Robinson, who some fans were hoping to move on from. While he’s still young, his development has slowed over the last couple of seasons, and fans were higher on veteran Trent Williams with Trevor Lawrence likely coming to town.

It seems that ship has sailed now. For better or worse, Robinson is returning to Jacksonville and the team won’t be changing its offensive line significantly this offseason.

Given all this, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Jags were among CBS Sports’ tag deadline losers.

We get the idea of securing an incumbent left tackle ahead of presumptive No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence’s arrival, but guaranteeing $14.5 million to Cam Robinson on the tag after the vet graded among the worst pass protectors of 2020 in a contract year? Don’t love it. Why not use the cash to spend big for, say, Trent Williams or another free agent?

It’s easy to understand where the Jaguars are coming from. There was no guarantee they would land an upgrade, and now they’ve secured a player who is at least capable of starting. But Jacksonville has to spend its money somewhere, and with fewer options now on the table, it’s a bit surprising that it chose to retain a player who is still developing in pass protection.

CBS Sports lists Jaguars among the losers at the franchise tag deadline

Several Jags targets were tagged by their teams, and Jacksonville made a somewhat controversial tag decision.

Tuesday was not a good day if you’re a Jacksonville Jaguars fan. The organization may lead the NFL in available cap space, but it can’t control the personnel decisions made by other teams. And at the franchise tag deadline, a number of high-profile Jags free agent targets were tagged by their teams, meaning they won’t hit the open market.

Among these players are Chicago Bears receiver Allen Robinson and Giants defensive tackle Leonard Williams. Further, Jacksonville chose to exercise its franchise tag on left tackle Cam Robinson, who some fans were hoping to move on from. While he’s still young, his development has slowed over the last couple of seasons, and fans were higher on veteran Trent Williams with Trevor Lawrence likely coming to town.

It seems that ship has sailed now. For better or worse, Robinson is returning to Jacksonville and the team won’t be changing its offensive line significantly this offseason.

Given all this, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Jags were among CBS Sports’ tag deadline losers.

We get the idea of securing an incumbent left tackle ahead of presumptive No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence’s arrival, but guaranteeing $14.5 million to Cam Robinson on the tag after the vet graded among the worst pass protectors of 2020 in a contract year? Don’t love it. Why not use the cash to spend big for, say, Trent Williams or another free agent?

It’s easy to understand where the Jaguars are coming from. There was no guarantee they would land an upgrade, and now they’ve secured a player who is at least capable of starting. But Jacksonville has to spend its money somewhere, and with fewer options now on the table, it’s a bit surprising that it chose to retain a player who is still developing in pass protection.

2021 NFL franchise tag deadline passes: Everything we know

The Jags franchised tagged Cam Robinson and still have the most cap space in the league to make upgrades.

The 2021 NFL franchise tag deadline has concluded and the Jacksonville Jaguars were among the teams to use the annual designation. Last year it went on defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, but this season it went to a perimeter player on the offensive side in tackle Cam Robinson.

The move was somewhat of a surprise, yet one that made sense for many reasons. While there were options who would’ve been an upgrade, there was no guarantee the Jags could sign or trade for a veteran upgrade, while the draft only provided unproven options.

After the announcement was made that Robinson would be tagged, Jags coach Urban Meyer expressed his faith in Robinson’s ability to man the blindside. Meyer added that offensive line coach George Warhop felt the same way. With that being the case, the Jags seemingly will move forward with Robinson, who will make approximately $13.6 million if he plays on the tag, according to Over the Cap.

The Jags also have until July 15 to come to a long-term deal with Robinson. However, with Meyer bringing up Robinson’s development, they may elect to let him play on the tag and use it as a “prove-it” contract.

When factoring in Robinson’s franchise tag figure, the Jags fell to a total of around $71.8 million in available cap space. Per Over the cap, that’s still good for the most in the NFL as Robinson currently has the second-highest figure on the team, only under guard Andrew Norwell.

As for the rest of the league, there were eight other teams to use the franchise tag. The players who received them are as follows:

With the Jags having several needs, many of the aforementioned players could’ve been on their radar, especially defensive lineman Leonard Williams, receiver Allen Robinson, and safeties Marcus Williams, Marcus Maye, and Justin Simmons.

With only nine tags being used and the salary cap not making a massive leap from 2020, many notable names avoided the same fate as Robinson and are one step closer to hitting the open market. While the full list can be viewed here, safety John Johnson, cornerback William Jackson III, receiver Curtis Samuel, and tight end Jonnu Smith are some of many players who could be available to help the Jags. 

Urban Meyer discusses franchise tagging Cam Robinson

The Jaguars coach discussed the team’s decision to franchise tag tackle Cam Robinson at his press conference on Tuesday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars made fairly surprising news on Tuesday as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that they would be franchise tagging Cam Robinson. The 25-year-old is heading into his fifth season in the NFL, and he was set to become a free agent.

Jags coach Urban Meyer, who had a presser following the news, explained the decision Tuesday afternoon.

“We are heading in that direction,” Meyer said of tagging Robinson. “[Offensive Line Coach] Coach Warhop feels very strong about his future and the development. We realize he has a great future. His ceiling is very high. I’ve studied him very much. I’ve spent some time with him.

We feel that the way this free agency is moving is that the left tackle position, as always but even more now this year from hearing from the guys who have been in the NFL, this a tough year for that left tackle position. We feel like with what’s just out there and with coaching, culture, and development, Cam [Robinson] has a lot of talent.”

There were other potential options available, such as veteran free agent Trent Williams and Baltimore’s Orlando Brown, a trade candidate. But it seems the Jaguars are going with their in-house left tackle.

Robinson came on strong as a rookie in 2017, but he missed most of the following season with an ACL injury. In his last two seasons, he hasn’t quite developed how Jacksonville had hoped.

But Meyer and his staff seem to still believe in him, and though the Jaguars lead the league in cap space with $82 million to spend, it seems that money won’t be allocated to bringing a new left tackle to town.