How Bad Was the Lewis Cine Pick for Vikings?
The short answer is terrible. The longer answer doesn’t require a ton of nuance, but you could add a few more “very” qualifiers for good measure.
How Bad Was the Lewis Cine Pick for Vikings?
After being cut from the Minnesota Vikings roster, the former first-round pick lasted just two years with the team and was unusable in year two.
It’s an ugly look for general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, but it’s a positive that the Vikings leader was willing to admit the mistake and move on. The 2022 draft class largely goes down as a mistake for Adofo-Mensah, and that was put on display during cut-down day. While plenty from the group failed to make the team, Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr. were at the top of that contingent.
Adofo-Mensah surprisingly traded back from the 12th overall pick. He gave that spot to the Detroit Lions. They grabbed Jameson Williams with the selection. For the Vikings, it took away an opportunity to draft Kyle Hamilton. The Ravens safety made his first Pro Bowl last season and was named a first-team All-Pro. If that isn’t salt in the wound of the Cine decision, I’m not sure what is.
Minnesota got a whopping ten defensive snaps from their first-round safety. He suffered a catastrophic leg injury as a rookie that wiped out his season, but he never rebounded, either. A mediocre secondary still wasn’t enough for him to crack the roster last year. His best game with Minnesota was a preseason tilt against the Browns this season. Whether motivated for a chance on a new team or otherwise, it was the only point he has looked like an NFL contributor.
Unfortunately, the Cine selection went so poorly. It will forever be among the worst Vikings draft picks of all time, and it will also be the first selection that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is forever tied to. That alone is a dark cloud that will forever haunt the pick.
Cine might find a job that allows him to do something meaningful at the professional level, and the Buffalo Bills stepped up to the plate on Thursday with that opportunity.
If that doesn’t happen, his exit could be swift and among the fastest for a first-round pick — not what you want to see.
Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes weekly for Twins Daily. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.
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