Yet Again, Vikings Lineman Seems to Encounter a Tepid Market
Dalton Risner, a Vikings lineman over these past pair of seasons, is once again moving through what appears to be a tepid market for his services.
The veteran played his career at left guard before making the switch to right guard, relieving Ed Ingram of the starting position midway through the season. Presumably, the added versatility would be seen as a bonus to teams around the NFL, but Risner is still looking for work. Does he get scooped up soon?
Vikings Lineman Dalton Risner & The 2025 FA Market
Last offseason, Risner went to social media to express his dissatisfaction with the contract options available to him.
On March 12, 2024, Risner sent along this message online: “Just In case anyone was wondering… I’ve started 73 games over 5 years in the league… missing only 4 games due to injury… earning the starting spot amongst 3 different coaching staffs… I’ve never asked for a bag, simply just a starting guard contract.”
Perhaps it’s worth noting that Risner again earned a starting spot with the Vikings. At first, he took over as the LG1 for Ezra Cleveland and refused to give the spot up again, resulting in Cleveland going down to Jacksonville in a trade.
Fast forward into 2024 and Risner stole away Ingram’s starting spot. Ingram, like Cleveland, was eventually moved in a trade, but Minnesota opted to fill the opening at RG1 with a major money deal for Will Fries.
In theory, Minnesota could look to re-sign Risner. After all, the deal to get him back for the most recent season only occurred in late May of 2024, so slow-playing things in March doesn’t mean that there’s definitely zero interest inside TCO Performance Center to bring the guard back for another round of Vikings football. The competition at left guard would grow even more intense.
Last season, the lineman played on a one-year contract that accounted for just $2,410,000. Modest money, all things considered. His career earnings sit around $13.5 million; plenty of guards are making more than that on a per-year basis, including the recently-added Fries.
Another factor to consider is that Minnesota could be seeking to play the compensatory picks game. Already, the best guess is that a pair of added picks are coming back in Minnesota’s direction, much to the delight of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Nick Korte of Over the Cap is perhaps the foremost expert on comp picks. Right now, some relatively modest contracts are generating comp picks around the NFL. Could Risner agree to a deal large enough to kick over a 7th to the Vikings?
Dalton Risner, who will turn 30 in July, has been in the NFL since getting scooped up at No. 41 in the 2019 NFL Draft. He has put in work for Denver and Minnesota. PFF gave him a 67.0 grade for his efforts last season, with the pass protection grade coming in at a robust 76.2 but the run blocking coming in down at 57.4.
If a team is looking for a guard who can play both on the left and right side, then Dalton Risner is an option who makes sense. He plays a high-energy game and tends to keep his quarterback from getting slammed into the turf. Presumably, a team is going to give him a relatively strong deal at some point.
The current outlook suggests that Minnesota’s front five is going to consist of Christian Darrisaw, Blake Brandel, Ryan Kelly, Will Fries, and Brian O’Neill. The main depth options are Justin Skule, Michael Jurgens, and Walter Rouse.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on social media (Bluesky & Twitter). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.