We’re coming up on the third NFL season for Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr., the first two prospects general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah selected since gaining control of the Minnesota Vikings. So far, neither defender has given any reason to believe they’ll live up to their lofty draft position.
For Cine, that means looking like a first-round pick, thanks to being the 32nd player selected in 2022. Considering he has at least three safeties ahead of him on the depth chart, Cine has a lot of ground to make up.
For Booth, it means earning a role in a crowded yet open cornerback room that’s eager to find reliable starters since becoming the 42nd overall pick. Both will have their chances to earn playing time, just as they did in their first two seasons. While their draft pedigree may have kept them on the roster for their first two seasons, the NFL is all about production, and the cold, hard truth is that neither player has come close to living up to expectations.
Yet, there’s an increasing amount of doubt surrounding Cine and Booth’s ability to escape the Vikings’ roster cuts when the team trims from 90 players down to 53 plus a 16-man practice squad. Now, it’s getting to the point where the first—and second-round picks may not even make the roster.
Minnesota Vikings insider: Light bulb isn’t turning on for Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth
Lewis Cine has played just 10 games since being drafted, and he’s rarely seen the field on defense, playing a grand total of 10 defensive snaps. He hasn’t played much more on special teams either, seeing just 118 snaps across the past two seasons.
Andrew Booth has gotten a bit more playing time, including playing in all 17 games last year, totaling 256 snaps on defense over his first two seasons. Yet, when the Vikings drafted the 6-foot cornerback out of Clemson, they envisioned him quickly becoming a starter. Instead, he’s started just two out of the 23 games he’s played.
Now, several insiders are starting to question whether Cine and Booth are even worth keeping on the roster. The latest comes from Star Tribune’s Andrew Krammer on the Access Vikings podcast.
“The phrase that I’ve heard behind the scenes is the light bulb not going on with [Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr.] specifically. This is getting to be the time where you question whether or not Cine and Booth are going to make the roster. They have to cut their teeth on special teams. They have to earn those roles. If the special teams coordinator can’t use you, that’s the death knell. That means you can’t be used pretty much anywhere.
So it might need to be a fresh start for Lewis somewhere else, and maybe that fresh start comes as quickly as this fall, or potentially the same for Andrew Booth. But these guys are also incredibly intriguing athletes, and maybe they’re certainly hoping for another step in training camp before they have to make those decisions on whether or not to cut those guys.”
Vikings insider Andrew Krammer on Lewis Cine, Andrew Booth
Cine has had to watch several other safeties jump ahead of him on the depth chart, including a former sixth-round pick in Theo Jackson. In addition to Harrison Smith, Cam Bynum, and Josh Metellus, Cine is also competing with 2023 fourth-round pick Jay Ward. Yet, Cine is paid much more than Jackson and Ward at $3.1 million compared to Ward’s $1 million, and even less for Jackson ($900K).
If other safeties are playing more yet getting paid less, then what’s the point of having Cine on the roster, aside from emergency depth? Still, that’s an expensive failsafe.
The same goes for Booth, who earns a bit less at $2.2 million, but that’s still a million more than Mekhi Blackmon and Akayleb Evans, both of whom have passed Booth on the depth chart. Buried on a cornerback depth chart that features several players who have been specifically signed to fit defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ system, Booth could very well find himself on the outside looking in when it comes time to trim the roster later this fall.
