The Unthinkable Happened to Lewis Cine
Not long ago, former Minnesota Vikings safety Lewis Cine latched onto the UFL, signing with the DC Defenders in an effort to rekindle his football career. Now, the unthinkable has happened: Cine was even cut from that league.
The former Vikings first-rounder can’t stay attached to a roster, and the Defenders’ moving on tightens the runway for another comeback.
The man just can’t find staying power … anywhere in football.
Lewis Cine’s Comeback Window Keeps Getting Smaller
Cine’s strange odyssey continues.
DC Defenders Drop Cine
Cine is out — from the league that was supposed to help revitalize his career.
UFL writer Michael Heilman wrote over the weekend, “The D.C. Defenders released wide receiver Jalen Virgil, offensive linemen Elijah Ellis and Silas Dzansi, and defensive back Lewis Cine on Saturday according to the UFL Transactions page. Lewis Cine is six foot two and weighs 199 pounds. The 26-year-old from Cedar Hills, Texas, was drafted by the D.C. Defenders in the 2026 UFL Draft.”
“The Minnesota Vikings drafted Cine in the first round (32nd pick) of the 2022 NFL Draft. He spent three seasons in Minnesota with one tackle (1 solo) in 10 games. In 2024, he made 16 tackles (8 solos, 8 assists), one sack, one interception, and one pass breakup in three preseason games. The Vikings released him on August 27, 2024.”
Another strike against Cine — a guy who cannot afford any more strikes.
The End of the Road?
This is probably the end of the road for the former Vikings 1st-Rounder. Why? Well, there’s really nowhere else to go.
Of course, his agent can keep pounding the pavement for an NFL trial, but how would Cine magically get back on track in the NFL if he can’t survive on a UFL offseason team? Sadly, his release by the Defenders is a sharp indictment of his career’s state. The man is probably done for good after the release.
There’s really no coming back from this particular roster cut, unless Cine prefers to try arena football or something similar.
Cine’ Career to Date
Cine’s career never really stalled. It skipped straight past everything in the pros. By the time he was healthy enough to compete, the Vikings had already built a safety room that didn’t need him.
Minnesota once believed the path was clear. Harrison Smith was aging; Cine would be groomed to take his place, and the transition would happen naturally. Instead, Smith kept playing at a starter’s level well into his mid- and late-thirties, and the depth around him hardened. Camryn Bynum locked in a role. Josh Metellus turned into a weekly necessity. Jay Ward showed enough range to stay in the conversation.
Long before Cine could reassert himself, Theo Jackson — a sixth-round pick Tennessee discarded — slid into the exact job Cine was drafted to inherit.
That outcome wasn’t what anyone forecasted in 2022. Cine arrived with the glow of consensus approval, stamped by draft analysts as a late–first or early–second-round win. Minnesota bought into the profile, drawn to the speed and violence on tape, trusting athletic traits to smooth out the rough edges.
Then the floor dropped out. A devastating leg fracture in London four years ago erased his rookie season before it could find rhythm. When Cine returned, the team had already recalibrated, and the Vikings had basically moved on.
He never caught on elsewhere, either, though he did leave Philadelphia with a Super Bowl ring — a strange footnote to a career without a defining moment. Cine’s arc now lives in the cautionary file scouts don’t like to open. Raw physical traits don’t necessarily translate into stardom.
The Guy Who Drafted Cine Out, Too
Oddly, in the same weekend that Cine’s career probably ended, the executive who drafted him was fired by the Vikings.
That’s right: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah no longer has a job in Minnesota, canned on Friday and replaced in an interim role by Vice President of Football Operations Rob Brzezinski. Adofo-Mensah’s splotchy draft record followed him since the Cine pick in 2022, and while Adofo-Mensah improved in spots, the current Vikings’ roster is much older than most expected, mainly because of the draft follies.
Cine and Adofo-Mensah will obviously hope for new jobs before too long, but their ceilings are now much more limited.
Other former Vikings on the Defenders’ roster, like Andre Mintze, Jordan Ta’amu, or Abram Smith, were not cut over the weekend. Ta’amu, a Vikings summer quarterback in 2023, even won the UFL Championship MVP award in 2025. He was also the XFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2023.
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