Lewis Cine Still Has Uphill Battle to Make 53-Man Roster

Despite a strong performance this past Saturday against the Cleveland Browns, Lewis Cine still has an uphill battle to make the 53-man roster. The former first-round draft pick from 2022 hasn’t done much to contribute on defense since he arrived in Minnesota.

In his rookie season, he was beat out in training camp by incumbent safety Cam Bynum. At the time, that looked pretty bad, but has been mitigated a little bit. Bynum has turned into one of the best safeties in the NFL. Shortly after getting beat out by Bynum, Cine broke his leg pretty severely during a special teams play in London and has never quite been the same since.

Local beat writer doesn’t have Lewis Cine making the roster

With the 53-man roster deadline coming next week on August 27th, Cine is in a tough spot. He’s currently the sixth safety on the depth chart, and outside of one preseason game, he hasn’t contributed in any way. Adding more fuel to the fire, Alec Lewis (The Athletic) recently stated on his podcast, The Alec Lewis Show, that he doesn’t expect Cine to make the 53-man roster.

Per @Alec_Lewis via @AlecLewisShow, even with the impressive performance last Saturday, he still doesn't expect #Vikings S Lewis Cine to make the 53-man roster given the quality players the team will need to keep at the back end of roster 👀

"And so it is hard for me to think… pic.twitter.com/rkAWxhujVK

— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) August 20, 2024

And so it is hard for me to think that Lewis Cine, even with one, I mean, really impressive performance. It’s hard for me to find a spot considering what those other guys might offer down the line.

Alec Lewis (The Athletic) via The Alec Lewis Show

Lewis’ main rationale for this is because the Minnesota Vikings have quality players that they’ll need to keep at the back end of the roster. Unless the Vikings see something else we’re not seeing as fans, Cine’s time here appears limited.

Can the Minnesota Vikings’ trade Lewis Cine instead of releasing him?

The Minnesota Vikings could absolutely trade Cine to a team. However, they probably aren’t going to get anything flashy in the return. This was mentioned by Darren Wolfson (KSTP) on Skor North the other day too.

“I think a trade makes the most sense, a seventh with maybe based on snaps that could turn into a sixth. You know, but we’re talking about a late round pick.”

Darren Wolfson (KSTP) via Skor North

Wolfson did note that a trade makes a lot of sense. However, a conditional sixth or seventh round pick is likely all the Minnesota Vikings would receive. This is better than nothing, especially if the Vikings were planning on releasing him anyways.

Related: Did T.J. Hockenson Have a Set Back While Rehabbing his Knee Injury?

In the end, the Minnesota Vikings are limited on draft capital in 2025 and getting something for nothing seems like the move here. However, there could be a small percentage that Cine makes the 53-man roster and all this a moot point. We’ll have our answer in less than a week.