Having one of the most active franchises on the trade market shouldn’t be too surprising after hiring a former Wall Street trader as the man in charge.
The Vikings appointed Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as their general manager when the old regime led by Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer was let go, and he seems to be addicted to making deals with his colleagues.
Recent Vikings Trade Just Got Even Sweeter
He’s especially active when the trade deadline is coming closer. In the last two years, T.J. Hockenson and Joshua Dobbs were acquired just minutes before the deadline arrived; this time, he made a move with roughly one week to go.
Cam Robinson, the massive left tackle from the Jacksonville Jaguars, will suit up for the Vikings for the remainder of the season after spending his entire eight-year career in Florida. Adofo-Mensah made sure to address the important left tackle position following Christian Darrisaw’s brutal knee injury that required a season-ending surgery.
To lure Robinson to Minnesota, the Vikings sent a 2026 fifth-rounder to Jacksonville. That pick could become a fourth-rounder based on play-time. A Jacksonville conditional 2026 seventh-rounder will go the other way unless a currently unknown milestone is hit.
That by itself is a decent deal for a starting-quality blindside protector in the middle of the season. The experienced veteran can’t fully replace a star blocker like Darrisaw, but there’s a reason why he has been a starter for his entire career. Compared to the alternatives ‒ the theories included backup tackle David Quessenberry and left guard Blake Brandel ‒ Robinson is certainly a superior option.
Having adequate blocking on Sam Darnold’s blindside to keep the vertical passing attack alive is a crucial move. And the trade got even better on Wednesday when ESPN’s Field Yates tweeted: “To facilitate the trade of Cam Robinson to the Vikings, the Jaguars absorbed just over $7M of his remaining base salary, per source. The Vikings will owe Robinson $2M in base salary plus $58,824 for each game he is active for the rest of this season. Robinson can begin practicing tomorrow.”
Robinson is in the final year of his contract, and his salary is quite high. Jacksonville paying most of it allows the Vikings to make another move in the next few days.
At the end of the day, the Vikings pay roughly $2.6 million and move back two or three rounds in the 2026 draft for a solid left tackle who could potentially return a compensatory pick when he’s leaving in free agency.
It’s not quite an all-in deal, but the Vikings aren’t willing to punt on the season just because a player got hurt. Through seven games, the organization is 5-2, and the decision-makers clearly feel like this year’s crew can make some noise in the postseason for the first time in years.
Robinson will enter the starting lineup sooner rather than later. On Wednesday, he didn’t practice as he arrived too late and still had to undergo his physical. He has done that, and the trade is official.
It remains to be seen whether the veteran will play on Sunday, but an experienced player usually doesn’t need much time to be ready, and when Hockenson arrived two years ago, he immediately stepped into a significant role.
