Report: Browns swing a deal to address OT position

The Cleveland Browns have struggled through the first four weeks of the season with injuries at offensive tackle.

Right tackle Jack Conklin has been out since the first offensive series of the season with an elbow injury, and the team lost left tackle Dawand Jones to a season-ending knee injury in Week 3.

That has left the Browns relying on veteran journeyman Cornelius Lucas and inexperienced KT Leveston to hold down the fort, and protect 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco, with the results being less than positive.

Cleveland is taking another shot at fixing at least one of the problems, as the club has reportedly agreed to a trade with the Houston Texans for veteran offensive tackle Cam Robinson, according to numerous media reports.

In addition to the 6-foot-6 and 335-pound Robinson, the Browns are receiving a seventh-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, while sending the Texans a sixth-round selection in the same draft.

A second-round draft pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017, Robinson has been described as a “serviceable” lineman during his career. He played well enough for the Jaguars to franchise tag him in 2021 and 2022, but Jacksonville decided to move on and traded Robinson to the Minnesota Vikings seven games into the 2024 season after the Vikings lost starting tackle Christian Darrisaw to injury.

Robinson signed a one-year deal with the Texans in the offseason as a free agent as Houston was looking to solve their own offensive line issues. After four games this season, Robinson has posted an overall grade of 66.3 from Pro Football Focus, putting him at No. 33 out of 105 ranked tackles, with a pass-blocking grade of 57.8 (ranked No. 63) and a run-blocking grade of 69.4 (ranking No. 25).

This is the first year in his career where Robinson’s run-blocking grade has been better than his pass-blocking grade, although it is just a four-game sample size.

By comparison, Leveston has a pass-blocking grade of 24.1 from PFF, while Lucas checks in at 35.6.

Robinson should prove to be an upgrade at left tackle, although that is relative given how poorly things have gone at the position. He should get his first action with the Browns on Sunday when they face the Minnesota Vikings in London.