The Philadelphia Eagles need to cut their 90-man roster down to 53 players in the coming days, but they made one of their first decisions by adding a player on Sunday morning.
The Eagles acquired quarterback Sam Howell in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday morning, which effectively ended their search for a No. 3 quarterback. While Dorian Thompson-Robinson and rookie Kyle McCord are unlikely to stick around Philadelphia after an abysmal preseason, the Eagles still needed to make a cut to add their new signal caller.
In the end, it meant the Eagles said goodbye to a former first-round pick that never could find his footing after landing in Philadelphia last season.
One last move in the #Vikings-#Eagles vortex this morning: Philadelphia made room for Sam Howell by waiving/injured former Minnesota first-round pick Lewis Cine. https://t.co/hlD6WOuBbc
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 24, 2025
Eagles Waive S Lewis Cine to Make Room for Sam Howell
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Eagles waived safety Lewis Cine with an injury designation to make way for Howell on Sunday morning. Cine was a former first-round pick by the Vikings in the 2022 draft but appeared in just 10 games before he was released at the end of last year’s training camp.
The 25-year-old spent time with the Buffalo Bills before landing in Philadelphia late last season but he never appeared in a game for the Eagles before re-signing this past summer. Cine was always a longshot to make the active roster in training camp but had a diving interception in the preseason finale against the New York Jets. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury on the play and was the first player waived in advance of Tuesday’s deadline.
This adds another interesting layer to Sunday’s trade. The Vikings traded Howell to the Eagles to sign Carson Wentz, who was taken by Philadelphia with the second overall pick in the 2016 draft. Philadelphia traded Sam Bradford to Minnesota a few months later to clear the way for Wentz to start in his rookie season and Wentz put Philadelphia in position for home field advantage before tearing his ACL, which led to a 38-7 victory in the 2017 NFC Championship Game.
Wentz fell out of favor in Philadelphia and eventually gave way to Jalen Hurts, which sent him on a journeyman arc for the past few seasons. Ultimately, Wentz landed in Minnesota, leading to Sunday’s trade which led to the departure of a former first-round pick by the Vikings.
It’s part of a surprising deal that stretches back multiple seasons but both teams will look to move forward as contenders in 2025.