Vikings News: Minnesota adds safety Lewis Cine in 2022 NFL Draft

The first bit of Minnesota Vikings news happened on Thursday night when the team selected former Georgia safety with their first pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Heading into Thursday night, no one really knew what Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was going to do in his first NFL Draft as the general manager of the Minnesota Vikings. We now might have a little better understanding after the Vikings decided to select former Georgia safety Lewis Cine first their first pick in the 2022 draft.

Minnesota began their night by making a surprising trade with the Detroit Lions. The Vikings acquired picks No. 32, No. 34, and No. 66 from the Lions in exchange for pick No. 12 and No. 46.

So with the final selection in the first round, Minnesota decided to go with a safety who has a great chance to start immediately.

Vikings News: Why did Minnesota pick Georgia safety Lewis Cine in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft?

Despite the Vikings already having a solid young safety on their roster in Camryn Bynum, they clearly felt that Cine was too good to pass up on Thursday night. The former Georgia safety has a good chance to immediately team up with Harrison Smith in the back of the secondary next season and help improve a Minnesota defense that was very underwhelming in 2021.

With the Vikings selecting a player from the defensive side of the ball, will they use their next pick in the draft on an offensive player? Or will they stay on the same side of the ball with their next draft selection?

There are still plenty of talented offensive and defensive prospects left on the board for Minnesota to choose from including Liberty quarterback Malik Willis, Minnesota edge rusher Boye Mafe, Washington cornerback Kyler Gordon, UConn defensive tackle Travis Jones, and North Dakota State wide receiver Christian Watson.

Day 2 of the 2022 NFL Draft will begin on Friday night at 6pm CT. Currently, Minnesota holds the No. 46 pick in the second round and the No. 77 pick in the third round.

Keep up to date with all of the selections the Vikings make this year with our draft tracker.