Best path with Lewis Cine may be trading him to avoid dead cap penalty
Is 2022 first-round pick Lewis Cine on the verge of being cut?
After two seasons where he has played 10 total defensive snaps, it's not hard to see why the Vikings might move on from Cine. Add in the current cap situation and it becomes even harder to see why the former first rounder could be a potential camp cut.
According to Over The Cap, the Vikings currently have a little over $26 million in available cap space heading into the 2024 season. With a significant chunk of cap space available, there is an argument for the Vikings cutting their losses on Cine now and absorbing his $7 million dead cap hit before a big spending spree next March.
According to Alec Lewis of The Athletic, Cine is, "at best," the sixth safety on the depth chart entering training camp. If true, that means he's looking up at Harrison Smith, Cam Bynum, Josh Metellus, Theo Jackson and Jay Ward.
"In the end, the Vikings may simply have to weigh how valuable an extra roster spot is. Intaking $7 million makes sense if you have a budding rookie with potential — say, Gabriel Murphy— that you’d prefer not to lose," Lewis wrote this week.
Lewis also suggest the idea of trading Cine could be a route the Vikings take to move on from him. On the surface, it would seem crazy that another team would take a shot on a guy who has been an absolute bust through two seasons. Historically though, teams give first-round picks ample opportunities, regularly banking on the idea that a new coaching staff and fresh start can unlock the potentia.
Vikings fans needn't look further than the guy who will potentially be the starting QB for the team when the season opens in New York in September, Sam Darnold. The 27-year-old is on his fourth team since being selected with the third overall pick in the 2018 draft.
It's fair to point out that quarterbacks are typically given longer leashes than every other position, but look at at Laquon Treadwell's career. After being taken with the No. 23 pick in the 2016 draft, Treadwell caught just one pass during his rookie season. Four years later, Treadwell's Vikings career ended with just 65 catches for 701 yards and two touchdowns. He then bounced from the Falcons to the Jaguars to the Seahawks before playing the 2023 season for the Baltimore Ravens.
The idea of trading a first-round bust isn't entirely without merit either. The Cowboys gave up a fourth-round pick last offseason for Trey Lance. There were certainly teams interested in Cine coming into the draft, and if one of them thinks they can still get something out of the 24-year-old, the Vikings could move on without suffering a $7 million dead cap hit to cut. Or, possibly worse, keeping him to avoid paying the price to cut him and instead wasting a roster spot and cutting someone else who might blossom with another team.
JONATHAN HARRISON