The Houston Texans have spent part of the offseason reshaping their offensive line, and have now brought in an option at left tackle for the 2025 campaign. The club has agreed to a one-year deal with veteran tackle Cam Robinson, according to The Athletic. The deal is reportedly worth $12 million, but can be reach up to $14.5 million.
This deal comes after the Texans made one of the more surprising trades of the offseason thus far, shipping starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil to the Washington Commanders in exchange for an array of draft picks. That trade left a noticeable hole on the blindside and Robinson is now an option to fill it at least in the short term.
player headshot team logo Cam Robinson MIN • OT • #74 View Profile Robinson, 29, entered the league as a second-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017 out of Alabama. The former All-American started in all 91 of his games played for the organization before he was traded to the Minnesota Vikings last season. In Minnesota, Robinson came in and filled the shoes of left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who had gone down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 8.
Robinson started all 10 games played for the Vikings during the regular season along with their lone playoff game. Throughout his entire season stretched between Jacksonville and Minnesota (999 offensive snaps), he allowed seven sacks and amassed 13 penalties. For reference, Tunsil allowed two sacks but was called for 19 penalties (league-high at the position) over 1,026 offensive snaps played last season.
2025 NFL free agency tracker: Updates on top 100 free agents; Amari Cooper, Stefon Diggs among best available Cody Benjamin 2025 NFL free agency tracker: Updates on top 100 free agents; Amari Cooper, Stefon Diggs among best available Houston is looking to rebound after a lackluster 2024 season on offense, which was largely due to poor play along the line. Quarterback C.J. Stroud was sacked 52 times on the year, up dramatically from the 38 sacks he took during his rookie season. Stroud was also sacked 11 times during the Texans two playoff games last postseason.
In response to that, the team fired offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, traded away Tunsil and starting guard Kenyon Green, and released veteran guard Shaq Mason. Now, Robinson is looked at as a rebuilding piece to this unit.
When someone is chosen as a first-round pick in the NFL Draft, the team that selects them typically envisions that player at least reaching a second contract with them at the end of their rookie deal.
That didn’t happen with Payton Turner and the New Orleans Saints, who picked him 28th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft out of the University of Houston. New Orleans opted to decline his fifth-year option after Turner only played in 15 games in his first three seasons and recorded just three total sacks in that span from 2021 to 2023. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound edge rusher dealt with a litany of injuries ranging from issues with his chest, shoulder, toe and calf.
Turner, 26, figured things out regarding his health in 2024, appearing in a career-high 16 games and tying his single-season career-high in sacks with two. He feels like playing in new Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus’ scheme alongside All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons and defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa can help him reach his untapped potential. He’s never had better running mates in his career, and he believes a more practical approach schematically in Dallas, instead of former Saints head coach Dennis Allen’s scheme, can help free him up to attack even more off the line of scrimmage.
“[The Cowboys] got these different types of bodies and different guys who can do a few different things. I can kind of do a little bit of everything at a high level,” Turner said Tuesday on a conference call. “In New Orleans, where I see the difference is … this defense with coach Eberflus is a lot about penetrating and getting vertical and then react. As opposed to New Orleans, we [were] really detailed with our technique as far as you need to hold this gap. It wasn’t so much about getting knockback, getting vertical. They both have their advantages, they’re both different. I’m excited to switch it up a little bit and get back to get off the ball and set the edge vertically and getting back to it.”
Grading each Cowboys move in 2025 free agency: Dallas goes bargain bin shopping despite plenty of cap space Garrett Podell Grading each Cowboys move in 2025 free agency: Dallas goes bargain bin shopping despite plenty of cap space Eberflus made sure to keep his message to Turner direct and to the point.
“Get off the ball, set the edge, and be violent,” Turner said of what Eberflus’ told him his role is going to be. “Those are three things that I really enjoy doing, that I can highlight in my game with the Cowboys.”
As for the injuries, Turner is putting in the work to make sure his 16-game season in 2024 becomes the norm for himself, not an outlier. Changes in his routine and body maintenance, essentially becoming more of a pro’s pro, are the drivers behind his enhanced durability.
“I feel like [the injuries] impeded my progress,” Turner. “But stringing 16 games together more so proved to myself that I can do this. I can stay healthy. I’ve got a new routine. I’m sticking to that routine. … To start the season healthy and finish the season healthy [was] big for me, my confidence and continuity to progress as a football player. I thought that was big-time for me last year. I’m looking forward to building on that this year.”
Turner hired a personal allergist and a trainer as he’s placed more of an emphasis on his recovery and diet across the last calendar year. He credits his allergist for aiding him in cutting out foods that caused him to suffer from inflammation while also introducing him to regularly eating his vitamins. He’s also unofficially following the tenets of Tom Brady’s “TB12 method” by emphasizing the importance of mobility and pliability workouts with his trainer, a new workout staple of his. Turner incorporating yoga and Pilates into his training have provided a release of sorts to his muscles as he has shifted away from exclusively strength and weight training, his previous training approach earlier in his career.
“Finding a routine helped me to be available. That was the biggest thing I think I struggled with in New Orleans,” Turner said. “We get so focused on getting so big and strong, I think sometimes, younger guys think, ‘You’ve just got to lift super heavy all the time, get as strong as you can get.’ Sometimes you neglect the mobility stuff that got you to that point. As you get older and play more games and put more years on your body, [it’s evolved] to taking care of the little stuff for me. …Keeping that mobility. Trying to stay young, getting my sleep right, tracking my sleep. I’ve put together a good program that works for me.”
The Cowboys will find out in the 2025 season whether or not the one-year, $2.5 million deal they signed Turner to will turn into a winning lottery ticket of sorts, and the former first-round pick feels ready to prove them right.
The Dallas Cowboys are going on their third defensive coordinator in as many years entering 2025. Dan Quinn departed Dallas to become the head coach of the Washington Commanders after the 2023 season, Mike Zimmer held the role in 2024, and now former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus will assume the title on new Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s inaugural staff in 2025.
Naturally, Eberflus brought some of his Bears staff with him including linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi, which led to the Cowboys prioritizing signing linebacker Jack Sanborn to a one-year deal this offseason.
Sanborn was scooped up as undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin in 2022, and he developed into a regular part of Eberflus’ game plan, playing in 48 games the last three seasons with 19 starts. Sanborn, who will turn 25 years old on July 29, has produced 164 tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss, five passes defended, 4.5 sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery in his three-year NFL career.
“I’ve obviously been with Coach Eberflus and then Coach Borgonzi and really some of the other guys on the staff too for the past three years, and I think a lot of it, a lot of it does excite me as I’ve gotten a lot of experience in [that defense],” Sanborn said on a conference call Tuesday. “I’ve played multiple positions in it, too, and just kind of what he’s about and what he wants to accomplish. He’s aggressive, he wants to stop the run, he wants to get up to the quarterback and he wants to make game-changing plays and get the ball back for the offense, help us overall win games. I’m excited to be with him and everyone else with the staff as well.”
player headshot team logo Jack Sanborn DAL • LB • #57 View Profile Across the last two seasons of Eberflus’ and Sanborn’s time with the Bears in 2023 and 2024, Chicago surrendered 111.3 rushing yards per game, the 11th-fewest in the NFL in that span. That’s notable for a Cowboys squad that has struggled mightily in that same area across the last two seasons. Dallas allowed an average of 124.7 rushing yards per game in that time, which ranked 24th in the league — and stands as the ninth-most in the NFL since 2023.
“It’s definitely for sure about flying around and having an aggressive mindset and being downhill. Just making and causing problems for the offense, but at the same time, everybody’s got a job,” Sanborn said. “He’s [Eberflus] really big into that: Making sure that you not only know your job, but why you’re doing your job and by doing your job that leads to other people making plays or vice versa. So very much do your job, but at the same time, make plays, be aggressive and make sure to tackle.”
Given how much he saw the field with the Bears since 2022, Sanborn was a little surprised he wasn’t tendered and maintained as a restricted free agent in Chicago, but he’s excited to continue his NFL career in Dallas.
“I don’t know. It was my first time going around with stuff like that, going into free agency. As a player you always think the best of yourself, and obviously would love to have been tendered but at the same time … I didn’t really know what to expect by what was going to come out it. All I can say is that I’m really excited for the future and to be in Dallas and have this opportunity and win a lot of football games as a Cowboy.”
Sanborn called playing for his hometown Bears “definitely a dream come true.” At the same time, he’s now ready to take the next step away from home and make a name for himself, something Sanborn envisioned for his career before it even began.
“Originally from Chicago, so just having the opportunity to be a part of the organization, the team I grew up around the most, definitely a dream come true, but at the same time, I never expected to be playing for the Chicago Bears,” Sanborn said. “I always thought I would be away playing somewhere else, and I can’t help but kind of be excited to go branch out. Leave my hometown and make a name for myself somewhere else. Once again, I’m going to reiterate it, I can’t be more excited to join Brian Schottenheimer and everybody in Dallas and to be a part of this great organization.”
Sanborn felt it was fair to categorize the Bears letting him walk as a “wake-up call” of sorts, but he maintains he feels level-headed about it all. Shortly after he was allowed to test the open market, Eberflus made contact and got his guy in Sanborn. Eberflus heading to Dallas was on his radar as an immediate fallback option, and the Cowboys made it clear the feeling was mutual, contacting him early the first week of free agency.
Now, Sanborn will compete with newly acquired, 2020 first-round pick Kenneth Murray to start at linebacker alongside Marist Liufau, a 2024 third-round pick, in the injured DeMarvion Overshown’s absence. Overshown tore his ACL for the second time in as many seasons in 2024. Despite an open competition for play time with the Cowboys, Sanborn plans to be an open book in teaching his fellow Dallas linebackers what they need to know about Eberflus’ scheme.
“I’m pretty much an open book, easy to talk to, very approachable, I’m willing to do anything to help everyone else learn,” Sanborn said. “Relatively we have kind of decently young (linebackers) room, so just doing whatever to help Dallas, the defense, right now. Help guys get up to speed and help each other because at the end of the day we’re all in this together as one.”
