Dalton Risner Is up to His Old Tricks
Strangely, the Minnesota Vikings made the same two moves in each of the last two seasons. They acquired Cam Akers via trade twice and made him their backup running back, and they signed Dalton Risner in 2023 and 2024. Both times, after a few games on the bench, he claimed starting roles.
Dalton Risner Is up to His Old Tricks
In both years, Risner remained in the free agency pool longer than expected for a starting-caliber guard. The Vikings signed home after Week 2 of the 2023 campaign and brought him back in May of 2024.
For some reason, the man can’t get jobs in the early stages of free agency despite the underwhelming offensive line play in the NFL. This time, he’s once again looking for a job after missing out in March.
And just like the last two seasons, he’s using social media to get some attention. He voiced his interest in joining the Bengals on social media but added that he hasn’t had any discussions with the team.
There’s no doubt about it: the Bengals have been in the market for offensive line help for years to protect Joe Burrow, and this year isn’t any different.
Drew Garrison from the Cincy Jungle noted, “With Cody Ford signing a two-year contract and Cordell Volson back in the fold, the two are expected to compete with the newly signed Lucas Patrick for the starting positions as of now, but that could always change. Fans still want the team to add a veteran guard, though. A quick scroll through the Twitter feed will almost certainly show fans who are still concerned about the interior of the offensive line.”
Ironically, fans did the same thing in Minnesota in the last two years and Risner used that to his advantage.
In August of 2023, between his meeting with the Vikings during training camp and his deal in September, he liked countless social media posts that suggested the Vikings should sign him.
Following the dropped season opener to the Buccaneers, in part due to the poor offensive line, the guard once again entered the social media world.
He was signed about a week later.
Last year, after the first wave of free agents were off the board, he posted, “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.”
So what’s the deal? Risner made about $5 million combined in the last two seasons in Minnesota and had his rookie deal in Denver before that. He isn’t an elite player by any means, but he surely is worth that kind of low-end starting money.
His PFF resume isn’t bad by any means.
- 2019: 64.4 (32nd/83 eligible guards)
- 2020: 61.3 (49th/80)
- 2021: 68.5 (28th/82)
- 2022: 61.1 (42nd/77)
- 2023: 57.1 (46th/79)
- 2024: 68.1 (22nd/77)
At least half the NFL teams have one or even two weaknesses on their interior offensive line and could use a player like Risner to provide at least serviceable play (especially in pass protection), but that hasn’t helped him in free agency for the third straight season.
Actually, the Vikings make sense once again. Risner could return to the left guard side and compete with Blake Brandel or provide valuable depth.
The blocker will turn 30 in July, but it remains to be seen whether someone will employ him by then. Risner has played in 87 career games with 81 starts.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
Kansas City Snags Ex-Vikings Defender