Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah shows great leadership after cutting first-round pick
The Minnesota Vikings made the difficult decision to move on from safety Lewis Cine in final cuts on Tuesday. He was this regime's first pick at 32nd overall in 2022. By moving on from Cine, the Vikings will have moved on from their first two draft picks in 2022. It wasn't a major surprise to […]
The Minnesota Vikings made the difficult decision to move on from safety Lewis Cine in final cuts on Tuesday. He was this regime's first pick at 32nd overall in 2022. By moving on from Cine, the Vikings will have moved on from their first two draft picks in 2022.
It wasn't a major surprise to not see Cine among the initial 53-man roster after two years with the team and only two defensive snaps. Some of that was due to the brutal compound fracture of his lower leg that happened against the New Orleans Saints in week four of 2022.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah displays great leadership
Moving on from a player is never easy, but it's something that you have do multiple times per year, including 38 times for the Vikings during the last few days to get down to the 53-man roster. Moving on from Cine is an interesting case, especially for a new general manager.
Adofo-Mensah used his first-ever draft pick in the role on Cine and believed he could be a dynamo in the Vikings secondary. Unfortunately, that never came to fruition for many reasons.
The Vikings were set to give him more playing time on defense going into their week four matchup against the New Orleans Saints in London. That didn't end up happening, as he broke his leg in brutal fashion. He played in just two defensive snaps as a rookie before coming back in his second season.
2023 ended up being just as bad for Cine in terms of growth and development. He played in 10 games, but just eight defensive snaps. All of those came in one game against the Green Bay Packers in garbage time.
What is really impressive from Adofo-Mensah is the willingness to adjust to new information and be willing to move on from a player that isn't working out. There isn't an issue with continuing to invest money into someone who isn't producing. He showed that by trading Andrew Booth Jr. to the Dallas Cowboys and did so with Cine.
This is great news for the Vikings on a long-term basis. If the investment isn't working out, cut ties and try something new. Sure, it stinks that the investment in Cine and Booth didn't work, but Adofo-Mensah wasn't scared to move on and admit that it wasn't working.
Lewis Cine's impact on the salary cap
The other element of Cine's departure from the Vikings is what happens wit the salary cap. Because he was a first-round pick, his contract is fully guaranteed.
According to Over The Cap, Cine is set to count $3,134,770 against the Vikings salary cap this season. If he were to be claimed, the fully guaranteed base salary would go to the new team and save the Vikings $1,749,924. That would leave them with $1,384,846 in dead salary cap in both 2024 and 2025. If he doesn't get claimed, the Vikings would be stuck with dead cap hits of the aforementioned $3,134,770 this season and $3,657,231 in 2025.
Now, if Cine does end up signing with another team on either the practice squad or the active roster once he clears waivers, the Vikings would likely receive salary cap credit the following season due to likely offset language in his contract. It's very common for rookies to have that in their contracts, which could factor in for the Vikings.
Right now, the Vikings are in a good spot with the salary cap and will have around $8-9 million in cap space after finalizing their practice squad.
Introducing the initial 53-man roster for the 2024 Minnesota Vikings
The initial 53-man roster is here
