Vikings OL With ‘Spotty’ Reputation Predicted to End Up With ‘Hesitant’ Patriots

The new NFL “league year” begins at 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday and that means teams are now free to sign any free agent available. Of course, 123 NFL free agents have already signed with new teams and dozens more opted to re-sign with their current teams on Monday and Tuesday. And the official signing period had not even started yet.

That’s due to what NFL-watchers calls the “legal tampering” window, a two-day period when teams may contact and even reach agreements with free agent players while they are still, at least on paper, under contract to the teams they played for in the most recent season.

Despite the blitz of free agent deals struck since Monday at noon EDT when “legal tampering” began, plenty of free agents remain, including such big names as Buffalo Bills receiver Amari Cooper, Houston Texans receiver Stefon Diggs (both of whom were injured last year, accounting for their continued availability) and future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, formerly of the New York Jets.

Patriots Still Have Gap at Crucial Offensive Position

For the New England Patriots, however, despite making eight reported signings, all on Monday, continue to have a few glaring needs. And no need is bigger than the left tackle position on the offensive line. That’s why the Patriots next target in free agency is widely predicted to be former Minnesota Vikings lineman Cam Robinson, called by Fansided writer Sara Marshall “quite the upgrade over what they had at left tackle last season,” though Marshall also notes that the 29-year-old Robinson “isn’t the player he once was.”

Nonetheless, in 2024 Pro Football Focus gave Robinson a pass blocking grade of 70.4, raking him 49th of 141 offensive tackles rated by the site. By contrast, the incumbent who Robinson would be replacing, Vederian Lowe, scored a 66.9 grade as a pass blocker, ranking him 62nd.

The NBC Sports-owned site Pro Football Talk described Robinson on Wednesday as “the highest-ranked free agent available.”

The Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye, their first round draft pick at No. 3 overall, was sacked 31 times in his 11 full games in 2024 — plus three more times in two games in which he played just one sequence each.

Coming out of college at Alabama, Robinson was described as “the draft’s best offensive lineman.” He was taken in the second round, 34th overall, by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017. But after seven full seasons in Jacksonville, the Jags dealt him at the 2024 trade deadline to the Minnesota Vikings along with a conditional seventh-round 2026 pick, in exchange for a conditional 2026 fifth-rounder.

Vrabel May be ‘Hesitant’ About Ex-Viking’s ‘Spotty’ Rep

The problem with Robinson, at least according to Sports Illustrated reporter Albert Breer speaking Tuesday on the NFL Network, is that Robinson is believed to sometimes lack motivation — a factor that would not, it appears, fit in with the new, disciplined approach that Patriots first-year head coach Mike Vrabel has said he will implement.

“Cam Robinson’s reputation is a little spotty,” Breer said, adding that the Patriots may be wondering about signing him at an increased salary. Robinson is coming off a three-year, $54 million contract.

“This isn’t about being cheap,” Breer continued. “This is about, if we give him a certain number, is he going to kick his feet back? Do we want to give him something that’s a little more incentive laden to keep him motivated?”

The Boston-area sports cable network NESN, in a piece on Robinson by writer Gio Rivera, described the Patriots as “hesitant” to sign the former Vikings and Jaguars lineman. But in the end, if they do not pull the trigger on Robinson, their only alternative may be to spend their valuable No. 4 draft pick on an offensive lineman, predicted to be LSU tackle Will Campbell.