Fair or not, Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has never fully recovered from the botched 2022 draft, which was his first in charge. He selected Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth with his first two picks, followed by Ed Ingram and Brian Asamoah. Of course, none of those guys has been with the Vikings since the 2025 offseason. Cine’s next stint will bring him to the nation’s capital, but not to the Commanders. No, he’ll be a member of the UFL franchise DC Defenders.
Lewis Cine Heads to the UFL
Cine’s career has not lived up to the expectations many analysts had when he came out of college as a national champion with the Georgia Bulldogs. Four years later, he has decided to showcase his skills in the UFL, hoping to revive his career in the spring league.
This week, the UFL held its annual draft. The league explained the procedure, “The United Football League today concluded its two-day 2026 UFL Draft, which was held inside the league headquarters in Arlington, Texas, with Day Two centering on the selection of free agents. During Day Two, teams had the opportunity to bolster their rosters by adding available veteran players and unselected talent from across professional and collegiate football, who were not under contract by another league. 214 players were selected across the league on Day Two.”
Earlier this week, 2023 draftee Jaren Hall was assigned to the roster of the Birmingham Stallions.
“Similar to the first day of the UFL Draft, the second day was structured into positional groups with offensive front, followed by defensive front, offensive skills position, defensive back, and specialists, as well open selections regardless of position. UFL teams will retain exclusive rights to each free agent upon signing once the player officially reports to the team.”
Cine will join several former Vikings on the roster, such as Andre Mintze, Jordan Ta’amu, or Abram Smith. Unlike those guys, however, Cine was envisioned to become a star in the Twin Cities, following Harrison Smith’s footsteps. Given his play at Georgia and the outstanding physical tools, that was not out of the question.
Early in his career, Cine struggled to beat Cam Bynum for the starting role next to Smith and even Joshua Metellus was the first man off the bench. Now we know that those two guys are fantastic football players, but back in the day, it was a red flag for the first-rounder.
Cine was limited to reps on special teams and in one of those reps, disaster struck. Cine suffered a leg fracture in London, ending his rookie season early in the process. The next problem in his development was the firing of Ed Donatell. Cine was drafted for his scheme and his successor Brian Flores had different ideas.
After another year of special teams work (if he even qualified for the gameday roster), Cine was cut ahead of the 2024 season. He showed some flashes in the 2024 preseason but not enough to make the team in a crowded safety room. A short stint on the practice squad in Buffalo was followed by some time with the Philadelphia Eagles. Technically, Cine is a Super Bowl champion. Cine was released last August and hasn’t been on the field since.
So far, the defender has appeared in 11 career games, making one tackle in ten defensive snaps and another 134 on special teams.
The path of the spring league has helped Vikings breakout defender Jalen Redmond into the spotlight and the Vikings saw his talent and signed him. Cine wants to have a comparable journey.
Cine is 26 years old.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.
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