Crimson and Coffee: Crimson, Coffee and Cam

Good morning, Alabama fans, and welcome to Crimson and Coffee. Football is always our focus here but each day we will cover the news, notes and analysis across all Crimson Tide sports. Join us each weekday morning to get caught up on everything you might have missed in the world of Alabama football, recruiting, basketball and more. Enjoy your Crimson and Coffee.

What a career Cam Robinson is putting together. He was tagged yesterday. For the second time. That’s good, right? We will explain shortly.

Alabama signed Cam Robinson out of West Monroe High School in West Monroe, Louisiana. That is a premiere program, perhaps the best “big” program in the state. He was named the number one offensive tackle prospect in the country before signing with Alabama.

He was a true freshman starter at tackle. That “thing” we have been talking about here for two seasons. How invaluable, how impossibly INVALUABLE is it to find a tackle who can start immediately as a true freshman and hold his own in the best college football conference in the country? Cam did.

He won the national championship as the Tide’s starting left tackle in 2015 and came within one second of winning another in 2016.

He played at Alabama for three seasons and entered the Draft before his eligibility had even expired.

We just completed Combine weekend. Do you guys remember Cam at the Combine? He measured 6’6, 322 and ran a 5.15 forty. He competed in all the drills. Believe it or not, one of the things hurting Cam in the draft was talk that he may be best suited for guard. Thus, he “fell” to the 34th pick. The second pick of the second round. What a steal by the lowly Jaguars! He signed a four-year deal expiring at the end of the 2020 season.

He did in Jacksonville what he did at Alabama. He started immediately at left tackle. Yes, Cam was the starting left tackle for the Jags throughout his rookie season in 2017.

In his second season with the Jags in 2018, he tore his ACL in Week 2 and missed the season. Bummer.

Upon expiration of his rookie deal following the 2020 season, he was “tagged” by the franchise, thus signing a one-year deal.

What does that mean? The “Franchise Tag” is a designation. A player who is an unrestricted free agent can be “tagged” and he is then awarded a one-year contract with a non-negotiable salary. This allows teams to keep their “franchise player” instead of losing him to free agency. The non-negotiable salary is an average of the top five salaries at his position in the NFL or 120% of the players’ previous salary, whichever is higher.

Cam was tagged AGAIN yesterday, for the second year in a row. Yes, you can be tagged up to THREE seasons in a row. (Though the salary after the third tag must be 144% of the previous year’s salary) Cam’s second consecutive tag yesterday means Cam is looking at, minimum, a 20% raise from his pay one season ago.

The rookie contract Cam signed had a total value of $7 million dollars. Tagged following the expiration of that contract, he played the 2021 season for $13.8 million dollars. Now, tagged again with, at minimum, a 20% raise. Thus, he should play the 2022 season with a salary of $16.6 million. Math is not my thing but it appears to me that Cam Robinson since leaving Alabama will have been paid over $37 million to play football.

What a remarkable career and story. A Five-Star Plus high school player, immediate college starter at left tackle, a three-and-done early entry pro player, an immediate NFL starter and a six-season star paid $37 million dollars.

Alabama has more players in the NFL than any other college program. Cam is just one of many incredible stories. He is certainly winning the most valuable game of tag played in the world.