Lewis Cine and The Texans’ Reminder of What Could Have Been
Generally speaking, the focus in the Lewis Cine discussion rests on Kyle Hamilton.
The Vikings were sitting in the 12th slot and had their shot at the Notre Dame safety. Instead, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah dropped down to 32nd, forfeiting the chance to scoop up the future All Pro. Baltimore snagged him at 14th and have been rewarded accordingly. The safety earned an AP1 nod as a sophomore to stand alongside his Pro Bowl trip. The 6’4″, 220-pound defender is a stud and is somehow only 23.
Down at 32, the Vikings decided to pull Lewis Cine out of Georgia. The national champion safety had a reputation for hitting hard and flying all over the field with his elite speed. In a lot of ways, Cine looked to be precisely what Minnesota could use on the back end of their defense.
Fast forward into the present day and Cine is no longer a Viking. He was, in short, a bust. Under Adofo-Mensah’s leadership, the Vikings understand the sunk cost fallacy, so they decided to move on from a bad investment. Part of what makes the miss on Cine sting a little more is that Jalen Pitre — a starting safety for the Houston Texans — was available at that 32nd spot.
The Vikings Chose Lewis Cine over Jalen Pitre
Minnesota needed youth and speed in the defensive backfield. Opting for a safety thus made some sense even if hindsight tells us that Camryn Bynum and Josh Metellus were going to form a tremendous twosome.
Pitre played his college ball at Baylor, so he wasn’t coming out of total obscurity. Consider the scouting report on the NFL website: “Pitre is a coach’s dream with exceptional competitive drive and desired intangibles for teams where locker room culture matters. He became an impact player in Baylor coach Dave Aranda’s ‘Star’ position but he might not have the physical tools to stay in a similar role as a pro. He’s a little tight in his lowers, which could impact his success in man coverage. He might benefit from a scheme that allows him to play with more linear pursuit. Pitre played well at the Reese’s Senior Bowl and tested well at the NFL Scouting Combine and his pro day. He could develop into a future NFL starter as a Day 2 selection.”
So, someone with promise even if the suggestion was that a RD1 pick would have been an overpay. The Vikings snagged Cine at 32 and the Texans snagged Pitre at 37. Right now, Houston is looking a lot better.
As a rookie, Pitre picked up a staggering 147 tackles, 5 interceptions, 8 passes defended, 1 sack, and 5 TFLs. Impressive stuff. Those numbers allowed Mr. Pitre to finish 5th in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
Since then, the numbers have been a bit more modest. Keep in mind that DeMeco Ryans took over starting in 2023, so the scheme and responsibilities changed. Even still, he has been a starter since Day 1. He started all seventeen games as a rookie and then fifteen as a sophomore. Across his three games in 2024, Pitre has been starting.
Something that makes his game notable is his versatility, a necessary trait for any safety. He mostly soaked up snaps as a free safety in his opening pair of seasons — 621 snaps as a FS in 2022 and then 620 snaps as a FS in 2023 — but he has mostly been making the transition to box safety in 2024.
Pitre has been in the slot for 104 snaps and in the box for 61 snaps. Meanwhile, there has been 1 lonely snap as a free safety.
One wonders about his ability to fit in Minnesota. The defender is 25 and has a sturdy build at 5’11” and roughly 200 pounds. The simple fact that he’s a starter reveals that he has been a better NFL player than Cine but some of the broader context — the DROY chance, the gaudy stats as a rookie, the versatility — make the miss a bit more discouraging.
Currently, the Vikings have $5,407,155 of the budget gobbled up by dead money for Lewis Cine. Houston is seeing $2,442,119 used up by Jalen Pitre in the lineup.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.