The Minnesota Vikings turned the page earlier this month when they parted ways with their first two picks of the 2022 NFL Draft.
The Vikings traded Andrew Booth Jr to the Dallas Cowboys earlier this month and doubled down by waiving Lewis Cine as part of the team’s final cuts ahead of Tuesday’s 53-man roster deadline. While giving up on two high draft picks was a difficult decision, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah shed some light on the decision to move on during a press conference on Thursday morning.
"I think when you look at decisions, you try to break them into outcomes. What happened? Bad outcomes, good outcomes whatever they are. And bad outcomes can happen from a lot of things. Bad decision making bad process, bad information, bad implementation when they get here [or] bad support.Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
There’s a lot of different things that can go a certain way. So you’re always in real time, trying to evaluate how you’re doing it as an organization, not just for the good of the organization but for the good of the person. And I think at times, you get to a place where that roster spot, that value received is better used elsewhere and it also might be better for that player."
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah explains why the Vikings parted ways with failed 2022 draft picks
Cine and Booth were the first two picks for Adofo-Mensah as general manager but neither panned out. Cine was selected with the 32nd overall pick in a controversial trade down with the Detroit Lions but never found his footing after suffering a broken leg during a game in London in October 2022.
Booth was selected in a trade-up for the 41st overall pick and had a similar rookie season, suffering a season-ending knee injury in November 2022.
The Vikings fired defensive coordinator Ed Donatell following the 2022 and replaced him with Brian Flores. But the coaching change proved to be a detriment to Cine and Booth who spent most of their sophomore seasons buried on the depth chart.
When both players arrived to camp, neither gained momentum toward a roster spot outside of Cine’s standout performance during the second preseason game against the Cleveland Browns where he registered 11 tackles, a sack and an interception. The Vikings moved quickly on Booth, trading him to the Cowboys for now-released cornerback Nahshon Wright and the Vikings waived Cine on Tuesday afternoon.
Booth has since made the Cowboys 53-man roster while Cine agreed to sign with the Buffalo Bills practice squad on Thursday morning. While there’s a possibility either player could resurrect his career, Adofo-Mensah sounded like it wasn’t going to happen in Minnesota, which convinced them to move on.
"When we bring these players in, we talk about people in this culture being important to us and it’s not just about what’s great for us. It’s about what’s great for them. And if it gets to a place where from both sides you decide it’s best if you part ways, I think that’s when you do it.Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
…Ultimately, I have undue respect and admiration for those guys, for what they’ve meant to the Vikings to this point. They wanted nothing more than to be great Minnesota Vikings and life doesn’t always work out the way you want it to, and sometimes, for life’s benefit, it doesn’t. But I will always be supportive of them. My relations were not transactional with these players. They have my number forever and I wish them the best."