The NFL roster cut deadline has expired, and teams around the league have painfully decided the fate of thousands of players around the league.
While it's no doubt a bloodbath, the amount of roster turnover sometimes presents players and teams with opportunities that didn't exist before. One of those guys could be former first-round pick Lewis Cine, who was waived by the Minnesota Vikings ahead of the roster cut deadline which creates a potential bridge to a new team.
That team could end up being the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Bucs were the first team to set its 53-man roster this year, but the release of Cine is at least worth pondering in terms of finding a way to add some potential upside to the secondary.
Vikings waving Lewis Cine might give the Buccaneers a last-minute addition at safety
Of course, there's some tremendous risk involved that might not end up being worth the trouble.
While Cine was great at Georgia and Bucs fans were high on him heading into the draft that year, he's failed to live up to the first-round hype. In two seasons he has just a single tackle and has played a total of ten defensive snaps.
That's not exactly mind blowing stuff, and it begs the question of how much more he'd add to the roster that someone already on it. Specifically, the safety room feels pretty set with how things are on the 53-man roster, with Antoine Winfield Jr., Jordan Whitehead, Tavierre Thomas, and Kaevon Merriweather rounding out a solid group.
Adding Cine to that offers upside, but does it add anything that's missing? Moreover, who in the room should give up their seat to make room?
It was already difficult to cut the Bucs roster down, thanks to how talented the locker room was, and there might not be space for Cine. Then again, he is a former first-rounder who could be worth a flier if there's a way to fit him on the roster, especially if it's on the practice squad.
Cine would need to clear waivers and then decide not to return to the Vikings in order for that to happen, but the Bucs might be able to persuade him. There's likely a clearer path to playing in Tampa Bay than there is in Minnesota, and the Bucs elevated a few practice squad defensive backs during the regular season a year ago -- one of whom, Merriweather, just won a roster spot.
Ultimately this could come down to money over anything else. If the Bucs claim Cine and clear some roster space, they'd need to pay him $4 million the next two seasons. For as lottery ticket that might have already busted, that's a steep price to pay and one Tampa Bay might stay away from.
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