Less than 48 hours away from the 2022 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars gave left tackle Cam Robinson a three-year deal worth $54 million, ensuring that he will remain with them beyond 2022. Ian Rapoport
and the team should make it official soon.
A second-round pick in the 2017 draft, Robinson got the franchise tag for the second year in a row but the Jaguars stated several times that they wanted to give him a long-term deal, so it’s not particularly surprising that they got it done. While the Alabama product struggled early in his NFL career, he’s made strides and showed meaningful progress in 2021, giving up just one sack and posting a Pro Football Focus pass-blocking of 76.6.
Here are three thoughts about Robinson’s new contract.
Jaguars LT Cam Robinson’s deal isn’t cost-prohibitive.
You could argue that Robinson’s $18 million per year average isn’t on par with his performance but the truth is that players are worth what a team is willing to pay them. Unless the left tackle were in a position to get a better deal, he wasn’t going to take less money.
Only three left tackles (Trent Williams, David Bakhtiari Laremy Tunsil) have a higher yearly salary and Robinson’s average is the same as Kolton Miller’s. Under the tag, Robinson was set to make $16.7 million but it’s highly likely that the front office will structure it in a way in which the cap hit this year will be lower. This will give in turn give the Jags some cap flexibility.
General manager Trent Baalke likes Cam Robinson a lot.
The current regime inherited Cam Robinson, so they could have easily let him walk away in free agency but opted to tag him instead and they showed how committed they were to keeping him around when they gave him his new deal.
General manager Trent Baalke hasn’t hesitated to pull the plug on players his predecessor, David Caldwell, acquired. Just a few months after he took over, Baalke traded tight end Josh Oliver. Later, he sent cornerback Josiah Scott packing to the Philadelphia Eagles, and just before the start of the 2021 campaign, he dealt quarterback Gardner Minshew and linebacker Josh Schobert.
Once the season started he traded cornerback C.J. Henderson to the Carolina Panthers and it’s possible he didn’t move on from him sooner only because he hadn’t gotten a deal he liked. So what do all these players have in common? They were drafted by Caldwell. Similarly, the organization opted not to re-sign wide receiver DJ Chark Jr., right guard A.J. Cann, and left guard Andrew Norwell this offseason.
If Baalke kept Robinson and gave him a new contract, it’s because he fits his vision (whatever that is) and believes he was the best option to protect Trevor Lawrence, who is entering a crucial year in his development. The general manager hasn’t been afraid to spend big this offseason and has progressively put his stamp on this Jaguars team.
The odds of an offensive tackle going No. 1 in the 2022 draft are slim.
Once the Jags applied the franchise tag on Cam Robinson, the odds of taking an offensive tackle — Alabama’s Evan Neal or North Carolina State’s Ikem Ekwonu — with the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft decreased considerably. And now that he’s gotten a multi-year deal, they’re probably close to zero.
After all, it would have made sense to take Neal or Ekwonu and plug either one at left guard in 2022 and slide them to left tackle next year only if the Jags moved on from Robinson next year but that won’t be the case. The other alternative was to take an offensive tackle and play him at right tackle but the Jags already have Jawaan Taylor. If anything, he might need to compete with sophomore Walker Little for the starting job but it would be puzzling to add another player in the draft, especially with the top pick.
With Robinson firmly entrenched at left tackle, it doesn’t make sense to draft a “left guard” at No. 1. Moreover, Jags players are telling Sarah Walsh of NFL Media that they want the Jags to draft a pass rusher, and all things considered, that’s the best course of action.
As important as getting Trevor Lawrence weapons is, the organization can’t neglect the defense if they don’t want to put their quarterback in a position in which he needs to score more than 30 points to win a football game.
At this point, it would be shocking to see the Jags draft an offensive lineman. They already have one that will protect Lawrence’s blindside for the next three years. They now need to decide which pass rusher they will take at No. 1. Aidan Hutchinson or Travon Walker?