The Vikings’ Upcoming Foe Just Fortified the Trenches with a Player Who is 6’6″ and 335 Pounds
The Vikings’ upcoming foe — the Cleveland Browns — aren’t having a very good year.
Sitting at 1-3, Kevin Stefanski’s team needs to turn things around quickly, especially within a strong AFC North. Consider the move that was just made, which gets relayed by The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport: “The #Texans are trading OT Cam Robinson to the #Browns per me and @TomPelissero. It’s a 6th round/7th round pick swap in 2027.”
The Vikings’ Upcoming Foe Adds a Familiar Face
Tom Pelissero came through with more details.
Kick it over to the league insider: “This marks the second straight year that Cam Robinson has been traded midseason to a team that just lost a left tackle to injury. Last year, it was from the #Jaguars to the #Vikings. This year, it’s from the #Texans to the #Browns, who play Minnesota on Sunday in London.”
The crucial context, as least for the Vikings, gets tacked onto the Pelissero update: Cleveland takes on Minnesota in Week 5.
Coming off a very poor effort in Week 4, the Vikings will look to get back to winning against a poor Cleveland team. Stefanski is a very good coach who has some very good players. Most notably, there is Myles Garrett, likely the NFL’s foremost defender after Aaron Donald retired. The simple reality, though, is that Minnesota has no business losing to Cleveland.
The Browns will look to snag the upset overseas with the help of Mr. Robinson.
Standing at 6’6″ and 335 pounds, Cam Robinson is a huge player. Even by lineman standards, Robinson stands out. He was brought to Minnesota in 2025 after Christian Darrisaw was lost for the year to a torn ACL. He did alright but wasn’t dominant.
Per PFF, Robinson finished his season by allowing 7 sacks, 7 QB hits, and 52 pressures. He got dinged with committing 13 penalties.
He ventured away from the Vikings during free agency, signing a single-season deal with Houston that (very likely) involved a compensatory pick getting sent back to Minnesota.
So far, the PFF report card is looking better for the veteran lineman, guilty of allowing 1 pressure but zero sacks or QB hits. As with golf — Shane Lowry! — the offensive lineman does better when the score is lower. Robinson will now be calling Ohio home while seeking to keep his low numbers as low as possible.
NFL insider Jordan Schultz clarified the motivation for the trade: “Cam Robinson wants to play LT and he never really got a serious chance at doing that with the #Texans, especially with the organization preferring to go young at the position. The #Browns had a glaring need at LT and they make the trade for the respected veteran.”
The Vikings are working through injury turmoil along the offensive line. Most notably, the starting offensive line has seen LG1 Donovan Jackson, C1 Ryan Kelly, and RT1 Brian O’Neill leave the field due to injury. So, too, has the season already seen missed playing time from LT1 Christian Darrisaw and OT3 Justin Skule.
Both the Vikings and the Browns will be desperate to earn a win in Week 5. The bye week is going to be a long week if Minnesota ventures into the break at 2-3 instead of 3-2.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and PFF helped with this piece.
