Since their stunning 5-0 start, it’s been a rough three weeks for the Minnesota Vikings.
They’re coming off back-to-back defeats – their Week 8 setback to the Los Angeles Rams also costing them Christian Darrisaw, one of the NFL’s premier left tackles, to a season-ending knee injury. But the Vikes aren’t taking that loss lying down.
Tuesday night, Minnesota agreed to a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars for veteran tackle Cam Robinson with the teams also exchanging conditional Day 3 draft picks in 2026. Per ESPN, the Jags could reap a fourth-rounder depending on Robinson’s playing time.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the deal, which materialized exactly one week before the Nov. 5 trade deadline, by grading it for both clubs.
CAM ROBINSON TRADE GRADES
Jacksonville Jaguars: B+
The Jags wouldn’t characterize it as such, but it’s a bit of a towel toss from the corner of the ring from a 2-6 team that also saw all three of its top receivers injured Sunday. It provides an opportunity to see more from Walker Little, a second-round pick in 2021, and/or try 2023 first-rounder Anton Harrison on the left side to see if he’s more comfortable as QB Trevor Lawrence’s blind side guardian. Robinson, who was franchised twice by Jacksonville before getting a moderate extension, is scheduled to be a free agent in 2025, so the prospect of potentially getting a fourth-rounder for a half-season rental is a pretty good ROI for the Jacksonville front office.
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Minnesota Vikings: A-
They’re sending a strong signal to their locker room that this season – once perceived as a transition year from QB Kirk Cousins to journeyman San Darnold to first-rounder J.J. McCarthy – is a priority. Cousins is in Atlanta and McCarthy is on injured reserve, yet Darnold has revived his career with the help of a strong supporting cast on offense and a relentless defense playing to its maximum potential under coordinator Brian Flores. In Robinson, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah provides coach Kevin O’Connell and a seventh-ranked scoring attack with a sturdy replacement for Darrisaw yet only surrenders a mid-round pick two years from now while assuming the balance of Robinson’s $16.3 million base salary before he returns to the market in 2025. (The Vikes signed Darrisaw to a four-year, $104 million extension earlier this year.)
A second-round pick, 34th overall, out of Alabama in 2017, Robinson started 91 games for Jacksonville over seven-plus seasons. He’s not as good a run blocker as Darrisaw, but given how Darnold was under fire late in the loss to the Rams, importing Robinson seems like a wisely measured decision rather than hoping a career backup like David Quessenberry was up to the task. Overall, pretty win-win for a franchise certainly focused on the present with the team very much in the hunt for the NFC North crown – but also now with the luxury of competing for a playoff berth while assured very little of the future has been mortgaged.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.