Lewis Cine Rides Again
Lewis Cine is back. Well, sort of.
The 1st-Round safety has failed to distinguish himself in the NFL, leading to a winding journey since getting subtracted from Minnesota’s roster. Cine has picked up work with the Buffalo Bills while also earning a paycheck as a Philadelphia Eagle (winning a Super Bowl ring along the way). There have been past workouts and he has landed another. He has yet to find a lasting home but maybe that changes soon.
Lewis Cine Gets a Shot with Patriots
Over on Pro Football Talk, Michael David Smith passed along the update: “Lewis Cine, a safety who was a 2022 first-round pick of the Vikings, had a tryout with the Patriots on Tuesday.”
The piece continues: “Cine played only 10 defensive snaps during his time with the Vikings. He suffered a very serious leg injury during Week Four of his rookie year, ending that season, and when he returned for his second season he was used almost exclusively on special teams. The Vikings cut him before the 2024 season.”
In college, Mr. Cine was a stud.
He played for the Georgia Bulldogs, proving to be one of the key defenders in their push for a national championship. Cine’s final collegiate season involved picking up some formidable statistics. The safety boasted 73 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 interception, and 9 passes defended.
Partner the promising numbers with exemplary athleticism — Lewis Cine offered up a sizzling 9.92 RAS score — and there’s no wonder teams were intrigued. Plus, he was quite young when he was drafted back in April of 2022. After all, we’re talking about someone who is still just 26.
All of Cine’s physicality and speed never translated to on-field excellence. The Vikings could have used added safety help but he never took off, failing to shine under either of Ed Donatell (a dud at DC) or Brian Flores (a stud at DC).
The NFL has 32 teams. Each one has a 53-man roster. There’s then a 16-player practice squad that can swell to 17 players with the international player exemption. Moreover, each squad has several players tucked away on the IR and/or PUP list, further upping the number of football players within the teams’ orbit.
Do the math and we’re talking about quite a large number of football players, but Lewis Cine isn’t currently an NFL employee.
At this stage, there’s essentially no evidence to counter the argument that he’s a draft bust. Best case at this stage may involve carving out a role as a special teams menace — putting his speed, physicality, and length to work — while offering depth for the defensive backfield.
Striking out with the Vikings, Bills, and Eagles — three strong franchises — isn’t a positive prognosis.
The Vikings’ safety spot continues to be leaned on to do plenty of heavy lifting. Josh Metellus is the sheriff while Theo Jackson is next up to help enforce the law. Harrison Smith is the rough-and-tumble townsman who has seen a thing or two. Supporting those players within our fictional western is Jay Ward, the third-year safety who has had some nice moments in support of the top trio.
Truth be told, Lewis Cine’s NFL career could nearing an end. There have been some nibbles but nobody seems to be beating down the door to get him within their building. At the very least, Cine can rest on earning close to $12 million in his career, the sort of payday that should allow him to live very comfortably.
But, to be sure, the hope on this end is that Mr. Cine proves people wrong. Keep working and go do something special; that’s the hope for the Vikings’ No. 32 selection from the 2022 NFL Draft.
