Former Minnesota Vikings failed first-round pick has a new home

Just two years ago, the Minnesota Vikings used their first-round pick on the highly touted safety out of Georgia, Lewis Cine. Now, two seasons later, the Vikings have moved on from the 24-year-old defensive back ahead of a rebuilding 2024.

As a part of their preseason cuts, the Vikings announced that safety Lewis Cine didn't make the roster. The decision came with a bit of backlash, as it just didn't make complete sense for the Vikings.

Sure, if Minnesota is competing and full of talent, then they can get rid of the struggling young safety. But they're not. They're not going to be competitive this season. Minnesota is expected to get subpar QB play with Kirk Cousins gone and JJ McCarthy on the IR for the season. Releasing a high-potential safety just two seasons into his career just doesn't make any sense at all.

But that's okay because Aaron Rodgers' New York Jets swooped right in to pick up said newly-released safety.

Jets take flier on former first round Vikings safety after roster cuts

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN quickly announced that the Jets were signing Cine. Obviously, the Jets see some potential in the young defensive back, as he's still just 24 years old and a few seasons removed from a great college career.

Now, there is a chance that Cine was never as good as people thought, more so a result of the talent around him at Georgia as well as the system helping in his favor. A few players from that 2021 and 2022 Georgia defense haven't really panned out in the NFL.

But either way, Cine should be elated with the change of scenery. A change of scenery is likely exactly what the Georgia product needed. Getting fresh eyes, a fresh start and new coaching on the young man should take him to the next level. Add in the fact that he should be playing with the talented Jets defense and he has the chance to turn out well in said uniform.

Besides that, he moves from a team in transition to a team with Super Bowl aspirations and a Hall-of-Fame quarterback. Talk about an upgrade.

It'll be interesting to see if Cine can stick with the Jets or if he ends up bouncing around from team to team. He certainly has the potential to figure it out at the NFL level.