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.