'Shaky' Cowboys Should Sign O-Lineman Dalton Risner; Here's Why

The Cowboys starting five is stout. The O-line backups, though, are shaky. That's why Dallas should explore the signing former Denver Broncos guard Dalton Risner.

The Dallas Cowboys coaching staff literally threw itself a big celebratory party this week when Mike McCarthy and company learned that All-Pro guard Zack Martin had reached an agreement on a new contract and was Oxnard-bound.

We will argue now that perhaps the Cowboys should look into a smaller party by signing former Denver Broncos guard Dalton Risner.

Risner has played in and started 62 of a possible 66 games since the Broncos selected him during the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He's allowed just eight sacks in the last two years. And he was Denver's nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award this past season. That demonstrates his qualities as a player and as a person.

Pro Football Focus shared that the former Kansas State Wildcat was called for only one penalty and gave up three sacks, six quarterback hits and 29 pressures this past season.

So why does he remain on the free agency shelf? 

“When it comes to this business, what everyone wants at some point as the player is to be valued, right?” Risner said as he entered free agency. “So if the Broncos value me, and they want to keep me here and be a Denver Bronco, I can’t wait. … But at the end of the day, it being a business, me entering this next area of this life, it’s like, ‘OK, where am I going to be valued at?'”

So, for one thing, maybe the price he believes is right hasn't been met. Spotrac recently projected him as a four-year, $38 million player. That's $9.5 million APY, and nobody is biting on that ... which we find to be understandable. Dallas cannot justify paying $9.5 million to a backup blocker.

Amid some rumors that he wants to retire (those rumors are false; Risner is only 28), we've also been told by a Denver source that he "put out some bad film'' and was "part of a bad locker room'' in 2022. That doesn't make it all his fault; His "film'' might be the result of having to help line mates too often, and the "bad locker room'' might be the result of an odd Russell Wilson-centered culture ... which is new coach Sean Payton's Job 1 in Denver.

At some point, Risner who visited the Vikings and could land there, might have to bend in whatever his financial desires are. The Cowboys - stout in the O-line with the five starters but suspect after that - would be wise to explore that "bend'' ... and to sign an insurance policy in Dalton Risner.

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