The Vikings are making a decent trade to compete in the NFC North

After losing two games, the Minnesota Vikings made the move on Tuesday – a week before the NFL trade deadline – to secure a starting left tackle for the remainder of their 2024 season. With Christian Darrisaw, the team's preferred starting left tackle, out this year with a knee injury, the Vikings have taken the proactive step of trading Cam Robinson from the Jacksonville Jaguars, who was previously Jacksonville's starting left tackle.

Robinson didn't appear against the Green Bay Packers last week, perhaps because the Jaguars knew a trade was on the horizon when Jacksonville moved to former second-round pick Walker Little at the left tackle spot. Robinson is a former first-round pick of the Jaguars in the 2027 draft and has started 91 games for the franchise.

Robinson was franchised by Jacksonville twice before ultimately signing a three-year contract with the team in 2022. He is now in the final year of his contract, which includes game money of about $1 million per week.

Currently, reports do not indicate how much the Vikings had to give up to sign Robinson, only that Minnesota gave up draft pick compensation for the move.

The trade should keep the Vikings, who are coming off a low point in their season, competitive in the NFC North. Currently, three of the teams that are 5-2 or better in the NFC are in the North. Despite a 5-2 record, the Vikings are in sixth place in the NFC playoffs if the season ended today.

However, since the Green Bay Packers face the favored Detroit Lions, a Packers loss could see the Vikings move to the top of the NFC Wildcard. Based on the record, Green Bay is currently ahead of the Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles, but the Packers lost in head-to-head matches against both teams, which is a crucial tiebreaker.