First Round Draft Pick Claims he was Misled by the Buccaneers

Did the Bucs make a promise they couldn't keep?

Collin Haalboom | May 11, 2022

Minnesota Vikings' first-round pick, Lewis Cine, was a guest earlier this week on the Richard Sherman podcast.

As it turns out, a former Buccaneer, interviewing a player who could very well have been a Buccaneer, ended up providing a very interesting perspective as it relates to the team's first-round pick just a couple of weeks ago.

Anyone who follows the team closely is likely well aware of just how consistently Lewis Cine was rumored to be a player of interest for the Bucs. In the months, weeks, and days leading up to the draft, speculation about Tampa's intentions to draft the talented safety prospect out of Georgia with their first-round selection continued to gain steam.

With Todd Bowles being a former safety himself, and just like Jason Licht, having placed great emphasis on the position in previous drafts, and on the field, in addition to the fact that the current roster just lost their starting strong safety, Jordan Whitehead, to free agency, the selection of Lewis Cine would have made sense on a number of levels.

Apparently, just like the media in Tampa, Cine was convinced he would be a Buccaneer if he was still on the board when the Bucs made their first pick.

"I had a team at twenty-seven. They know who they are. I aint gonna' say no names. It was at twenty-seven. The whole process—if you're there—we're gonna pick you. They move down to the first pick of the second round. I'm like, damn, they did me just so dirty."

It's clear that Cine is talking about the Bucs, who held the twenty-seventh overall selection heading into the draft. It's also obvious that he feels as though he was misled by the Buccaneers.

Which leads one (at least myself) to wonder, why teams ever bother making promises to prospects in the first place. Especially when so many different scenarios have the potential to unfold on draft night. Which, if Cine's claim is accurate, is definitely what happened here.

Jason Licht saw an opportunity to acquire additional draft capital, and still have a chance to draft a player (Logan Hall) whom he would have at least considered in the first round.

For anyone who wants to try and weigh whether or not the deal was beneficial for the Bucs, it's important to remember that they didn't just pass on Lewis Cine to draft Logan Hall.

Instead of drafting Cine at 27, they were instead able to select Hall at 33, and later, Cade Otton, a promising tight end prospect out of the University of Washington, at 106. Not to mention, they used the sixth round pick acquired from the same deal with Jacksonville (180th overall) to move up three spots and select Luke Goedeke at 57.

So there's no questioning the fact that Jason Licht executed a plan to not only acquire, but to also utilize his newfound draft capital by making the decision to trade out of the twenty-seventh spot.

Unfortunately in the process, Lewis Cine's trust became a matter of collateral damage.

Although I may question the Buccaneers' decision to make a promise to a prospect in the first place, I don't question the final results that transpired from breaking that promise.

You can watch Richard Sherman's full interview with Lewis Cine here.

If you want to see Collin Haalboom's exclusive post-draft interview with Thor Nystrom of NBC Sports Edge on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft class, check out the latest episode of the Bucs Banter Podcast.

Published May 11, 2022

COLLIN HAALBOOM

Prior to joining BucsGameday and Sports Illustrated, Collin's written content was provided through Bucs Banter, and NFL Draft Lounge. He is also the creator and host of the Bucs Banter Podcast. He is a graduate of the Communication Studies program at McMaster University, where he was also a varsity basketball player, and later an advanced scout. He lives with his wife and two children in Hamilton, ON. You can follow Collin on YouTube and Twitter.