Jaguars LT Cam Robinson Officially Signs Franchise Tag Tender
The Jacksonville Jaguars' starting left tackle for 2021 is officially under contract.
Veteran offensive tackle Cam Robinson has officially signed his franchise tag tender, ESPN's Michael DiRocco reported Friday. This comes a little under a month since the Jaguars placed the franchise tag on the 2017 second-round pick, who will now be tasked with protecting Trevor Lawrence.
Robinson was selected No. 34 overall in the second round in 2017, the second draft pick of the Tom Coughlin front office era. He started 18 games for the Jaguars at left tackle as a rookie (three postseason), helping the Jaguars have one of the NFL's most efficient offenses.
Robinson played just two games in 2018 due to a season-ending ACL injury, but he recovered in time to play in Week 3 in the following season. Since then, Robinson has started 30-of-30 games at left tackle.
Robinson is set to be one of the NFL's highest-paid left tackles in 2021, with the franchise tag set to earn Robinson $13,754,000. Robinson According to Over The Cap, this makes Robinson set to have the third-highest base salary among all left tackles in 2021.
"Cam’s a good, young football player, 26 years old that’s developing and has done a good job. He knows where he stands with this organization. We have a lot of respect for him and where he can get to as a player," Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said last March.
"It’s hard to find left tackles in the National Football League. They don’t make many body types that big, that athletic, with that type of length. So, he’s a young man that we’re excited about working with and he knows exactly what he needs to do as we move forward and we’re looking forward to working with him.”
The Jaguars' options at left tackle were limited entering this offseason. Robinson's rookie deal expired following the 2020 season, but there were few options in free agency to replace him.
Couple these limited options with the fact that the Jaguars are picking at No. 25 this year and are unlikely to be able to land a top offensive tackle prospect, and it isn't hard to see why the Jaguars retained Robinson for Trevor Lawrence's rookie season.
"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," Urban Meyer said in March when the Jaguars placed the franchise tag on Robinson.
"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.”
