On Tuesday, the official Minnesota Vikings 53-man roster for the 2024 NFL season was released, and not included among the players who were selected was safety Lewis Cine.
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Cine was selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft and less than three years later, he is no longer a member of the organization.
During his time with Minnesota, he appeared in a total of 10 games, and he only accumulated a single tackle. For whatever reason, Cine was never able to live up to his potential with the Vikings, and the team decided on Tuesday that it's best if everyone just goes their separate ways.
Lewis Cine is now one of the biggest draft busts in the history of the Minnesota Vikings
Perhaps Cine will be able to carve out himself a career with another team in the NFL. But for now, he's been added to an infamous group that includes Christian Ponder, Matt Kalil, Troy Williamson, Dimitrius Underwood, Laquon Treadwell, and others as one of the biggest draft busts in Vikings history.
After a productive preseason game against the Cleveland Browns earlier this month in which he finished with a sack, an interception, and 11 tackles, some thought the young defensive back might be given one last shot to remain with Minnesota this season.
But in the end, the Vikings felt they were better off just moving on, and with Tuesday's decision, both of Minnesota's first two selections in the 2022 NFL Draft, Cine and cornerback Andrew Booth, are no longer with the team.
Despite the large failures at the top of the Vikings' 2022 draft class, six of the 10 players who were picked by the team that year were selected for this season's final roster. So the 2022 draft wasn't a complete disaster for Minnesota, but the first two picks are definitely going to go down as two of the worst in franchise history.
