Will Lewis Cine make the roster?

MaroonBells wrote:
The Purple Persuasion@TPPSkol  In@Alec_Lewis post-NFL draft 53-man roster depth chart prediction, he does not have former 1st-round pick S Lewis Cine making the roster

“This is probably the most trusted position group on the roster. Smith, Bynum, Metellus, Jackson and Ward are essentially shoo-ins. Cine’s overall explosiveness and acclimation to Flores’ defense will dictate whether or not he makes the team, but I’d be surprised if he beat out any of the other five.”

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I would not at all be surprised if Cine doesn't make the roster, but it seems silly to say that Jackson and Ward are "shoe-ins." Also, I keep seeing people rate the Vikings safeties as one of the better groups in the NFL. Sure, Bynum and Metellus are good young players, but I think a lot of this thought is based on Harrison Smith's reputation. He's been a great player for us, but he's 35 years old. And you could see a little decline in his play last year. I think we see more this year. Not saying he's going to be cut, but I think the expectations for Harry are a little higher than they should be.

Cine just isn't a fit for the Flores defense. He was drafted when Donatell was the DC & I don't think it's a stretch to assume that it was Donatell in Kwesi's ear when it came time to draft Cine. It's time to move on from Cine & possibly Booth also. If either could be moved for late round picks, I would do it.

Knucklehead wrote:

Cine just isn't a fit for the Flores defense. He was drafted when Donatell was the DC & I don't think it's a stretch to assume that it was Donatell in Kwesi's ear when it came time to draft Cine. It's time to move on from Cine & possibly Booth also. If either could be moved for late round picks, I would do it.

I had read somewhere (too old to remember where) that Cine couldn't learn the system and either wouldn't know what to do or would line up in the wrong position given the offense.

If he doesnt make the roster (which is certainly possible) he goes down as an Underwood-esque bust and one of the worst picks in Vikings history.

I was listening to Bill Polian on NFL Radio yesterday and he said something interesting that immediately made me think of the Cine draft pick. Polian said its typical for most drafts to only have 15-18 blue chip players that are rated as true first round picks. He said if you are drafting in that top half and have a chance at adding one of these blue chippers with game changing ability, you do it, because it doesn't make sense to trade out of that spot to acquire more "good" players who don't have that same type of game changing ability. While it's true you can find players anywhere, you always take the player with the best chance at being a game changer. Kwesi tried to outsmart everybody and thusfar that draft has completely imploded when you also consider Booth might also not make the roster. I think Kwesi learned from that initial fuck up and drafted accordingly this last draft.

Yeah I mean he kinda stinks so I'd say he belongs on the bubble. Booth is probably outside the bubble. Hopefully both have great summers and surprise us but this regime doesn't strike me as the sentimental type.

A friend of mines kid hangs out with him all the time. Physically, he is absolutely impressive. Definitely puts in the work in the gym. But that's where it ends. The study part, that's being ignored. Plus, hopefully he's invested in an original wizzinator.

He makes the roster because of his fully guaranteed 1st round contract.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/_/id/76886/lewis-cine

While Cine's cap hit this year is $3,134,769 , the dead cap to cut him is $4,022,307.

Booth is also more expensive to cut than keep, but by a small enough margin of $294,124 to be basically insignificant.

I had high hopes for the kid after watching his post draft interviews. He oozed leadership qualities, was well spoken, seemed to have that fire. But for whatever reason, he just hasn't been able to get on the field. Obviously the injury his rookie year impacted that, but he barely saw the field prior to that or last season when he was healthy. I'm guessing he gets one more season to prove himself, but he just might not be a fit for Flores defense.

MAD GAINZ wrote:
I had high hopes for the kid after watching his post draft interviews.  He oozed leadership qualities, was well spoken, seemed to have that fire.  But for whatever reason, he just hasn't been able to get on the field.  Obviously the injury his rookie year impacted that, but he barely saw the field prior to that or last season when he was healthy.  I'm guessing he gets one more season to prove himself, but he just might not be a fit for Flores defense.

He may not be playing regardless of fit. He might just be bad...or stupid. Hard to know. But there's no doubt that Flores seems to have a very specific type, and many of the players acquired under Donatell are not it. Cine, Booth, Asamoah, Tonga...and he sure as hell didn't hesitate to bench Evans when he screwed up late last year.

Tonga's interesting. At 6-4, 340, he was the only prototypical nose tackle on the team. And he played well when he played. Just signed a contract with the Cards and doubled his salary. But his snaps were cut in half under Flores, and despite the fact that he was the only real fatty on the team (I really don't think Flores wants one), he had no interest in keeping him.

Everything physically about Cine screamed take me...He was a stud in college and I was stoked to get him at the time.

Lets get real - his problem is in between his ears. He's either stoopid and or in his own head.

I dont think its easy to get out of a Flores dog-house either. Whats protecting him now is the cap hit.

I can’t imagine he’s cut any sooner than the last possible minute, but I think he’ll have to be contributing much more value by the end of training camp if he wants to keep his job. At the very least he should be playing more special teams. He’s fast and physical, why is he not a gunner that I notice?

I didn't think the team could produce another LaQuon Treadwell career arc so soon after the original.

We were hurt by the inexperience of Kwesi in that draft, you would think a first time GM would have played it safe and taken Hamilton or the DT, however he resorted to his trader side unfortunately, so instead of taking ball four he tried to hit a bad pitch out of the park and missed badly!

medaille wrote:
I can’t imagine he’s cut any sooner than the last possible minute, but I think he’ll have to be contributing much more value by the end of training camp if he wants to keep his job.  At the very least he should be playing more special teams.  He’s fast and physical, why is he not a gunner that I notice?

I think he was doing just that when he broke his leg. Cine will get every chance to make the team considering this is likely Harry's last year. But damned if Flores didn't seem to prefer Jackson over Cine even when he was healthy.

MaroonBells wrote:

I think he was doing just that when he broke his leg. Cine will get every chance to make the team considering this is likely Harry's last year. But damned if Flores didn't seem to prefer Jackson over Cine even when he was healthy.

I’m mildly curious as to how his rehab went.  Was he the same speed and explosiveness last year as when we drafted him and him being on the side is purely a mental limitation or did he lose some of his elite athleticism that might improve over time.  What I don’t get is how elite athleticism doesn’t give you all the gunner snaps.  I think if this is an injury problem and he just doesn’t have his burst and needed an extra year of rehab, than sure give him every chance to get better.  If he’s just too dumb or too lazy to figure out Flores’s scheme, he’s not really in the running for Smiths job and if he’s also not beating out generic low draft picks or UDFAs for ST, I’m not sure how much you want to keep him as opposed to a CB or ST with value or keeping Hall as a second development QB.
 
If his 2024 production is the same as his 2023 production, I think you need to trade him for a 6th or something and hope someone will take him off your hands for you like we did to Reagor.

I agree. This is 95% going to be a miss by Kwesi for whatever reason. That said Cine was rated by most draft followers to be a nice pick in that range.

As for the hindsight stuff, Hamilton was not a fit according to Geoff so take that for whatever it is worth. No one else at that slot has really done much.

I go back to what I have said before, we fans only know a part of the story behind these evaluations, all the mental emotional maturity stuff is hidden to us.

We have 3 good safeties on the roster and a 4th, Ward who appears to have a chance to contribute.

I think the only way Cine makes it is if he shows out on special teams, which he should, because otherwise if we only keep four safeties (Smith, Bynum, Mattelus and Jackson/Ward) as is standard...it's going to be an uphill climb for him to make the roster

I can’t speak to what’s between his ears or his study habits, but he didn’t look healthy to me last year. At least not in the sense that he was moving like he did in college. He had a severe injury not only from a physical standpoint, but a mental one as well. If I were the team I’d have him seeing a sport psychologist and consider it as important to his rehab as physical training. It can take time to get over really traumatic injuries even after physical recovery.

I’d really like to see him work it out.