Inside The Vikings

Dalton Risner on Joining Vikings, Free Agency, Earning Teammates' Respect

Risner spoke to reporters as a Viking for the first time on Wednesday.

Will Ragatz

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Dalton Risner was working out at a local park near his Colorado home this week when he got a call from his agent. "Hey, I think a deal is getting done with Minnesota today," said the voice on the other end.

Risner, who had been a free agent since the Broncos' season ended in January, was getting ready to visit with a different team and likely sign a contract. Instead, the Vikings swooped in and signed him to a one-year deal worth up to $4 million on Tuesday, bolstering their offensive line depth with an experienced starter.

This offseason, Risner entered free agency for the first time after four years as the starting left guard for the Broncos, who drafted him in the second round in 2019. A couple websites projected that he'd receive a multi-year contract in the range of $8 million per year — or more. But the spring came and went without Risner signing a deal. Then the summer passed, too.

Risner's free agency didn't end until this week, two games into the regular season and more than eight months since the 2022 campaign ended. Why'd it take so long? In speaking to Twin Cities reporters during his first day at the Vikings' facility on Wednesday, Risner admitted that teams hadn't met his asking price.

"The truth is I wanted a job, man," he said. "I love this game of football. A lot of people get it twisted, I had 16 different teams in the NFL reach out to me. I had a lot of teams. It just wasn't for what I believed I should take. I'm not a guy that thinks I've got to get everything I'm worth or even half or even a quarter. Listen, I just wanted to play football, but I wasn't willing to do it for what some of these teams (offered)."

Risner isn't exactly sure why things played out they way they did for him this offseason.

"I wish I knew," he said. "Of course, people will always want to point a finger, whether it’s me, whether it’s my mixup with my dawg Brett Rypien on Christmas last year. Nickelodeon game, not a good game to do that, right? Some people pointed to that. Some people pointed to I didn’t have a good season. Some people pointed to, ‘Man, bad guard market.' I think it’s a mix of a lot of different things. I think that I was holding my worth earlier in the process, and maybe I should’ve called teams earlier and said, ‘Hey, I’ll take less than what you guys actually think (I will).'"

Risner stayed in shape all offseason while he waited for the right situation to materialize. He ran, he lifted at a local gym, and he worked on his pass sets in the park. On and off, he worked out with personal coaches in Colorado and in Dallas.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Vikings brought Risner in for a visit on August 1st. During that visit, he talked to GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, head coach Kevin O'Connell, and several other offensive coaches. He loved what he saw and heard. But from a financial perspective, his camp and the team still weren't quite on the same page.

Two weeks into the season, things changed — and probably on both ends. The Vikings are 0-2 and just lost swing tackle Oli Udoh for the season. Starting guard Ed Ingram hasn't shown signs of taking a year two leap after struggling mightily as a rookie. For Risner, the clock was ticking with each week that passed.

"I loved the visit, but where the Vikings were at and where I was at just wasn't matching up," he said. "So I think that they took some time and I think some things happened, maybe injuries, I don't know what it was, that they were like 'OK, we want you to come in now.' I'm like 'Hey, I'm ready to go, let's rock and roll.'"

Risner got to Minnesota on Tuesday. When he spoke to reporters in the locker room on Wednesday, all he'd been a part of was a walkthrough and several meetings. He joked about getting lost and needing to find lunch at some point. Later that afternoon, he participated in his first practice as a Viking.

Considering the timing of his arrival, it doesn't sound like there's any chance Risner is in the starting lineup against the Chargers this weekend. Everything that offensive linemen have to know makes this a slightly different situation than when T.J. Hockenson arrived in Minnesota last November and immediately played a big role.

Will Dalton Risner Start Right Away For Vikings? Assessing His Likely Role

"We will attempt to get (him) up to speed as fast as possible, see how he progresses," O'Connell said. "The guys he’s stepping on the practice field with have been playing football for the better part of two months now. We don’t have a lot of similar things in our offense from his time in Denver, even though we do have some coaches with some relationships with him."

"You gotta learn everything first, that's the hard part," Hockenson said. "Our offense, it's pretty complex."

Risner started 62 of a possible 66 games over four years with the Broncos. He's proven himself to be an above-average NFL guard, particularly in pass protection. But on Wednesday, his main role was to join the scout team and help the Vikings' first-team defense prepare to play the Chargers. And he's fine with that.

"A lot of these guys have no idea who I am," Risner said. "A lot of these guys have never played with me before. So for me, I want to earn the respect of these guys. I want to show up every day to show them I’m willing to do whatever role that is. Hey, if you need me to carry your pads off the field after practice, I’ll do it. I really don’t care what that role is for now. I don’t want to be the guy who comes in here and expects anything."

Moving forward, the Vikings will have decisions to make. Perhaps Risner replaces Ingram, whose first 20 games in the NFL have not gone well. Maybe he takes over for left guard Ezra Cleveland, who is in a contract year. Maybe he remains a key backup, providing depth if someone gets hurt.

Although it's tough to have competition during the season like teams do during training camp, the Vikings are going to continue evaluating all of their players in an effort to put the best possible team on the field.

"We’re going to play the best five combination that we can," O'Connell said. "Ultimately, just with that depth now, you feel very much more comfortable than maybe you would have for the duration of a long season here, knowing we’ve already played eight (offensive linemen) in eight quarters. So we’ll see how it all shakes out, we’ll let Dalton get up to speed and continue to pour into Ezra and Ed and all those interior guys."

Risner knows it'll be up to the coaches, but he's going to do everything he can to try to earn his way onto the field — because he feels like he has a lot to prove this year.

"I did a lot of things in Denver I'm really proud of," Risner said. "Pass protection, in terms of talking about stats and sacks and all that, but we won't get into it. I feel like I'm a really good guard in the NFL, so I have a lot to prove, because me being available when I was shows the exact opposite. And that pisses me off. 

"But as a good teammate and as a man of God and someone that comes from humble beginnings, I know the way I shouldn't come in here and act. I'm not going to be that way. If I'm ever given that opportunity, it's going to be a different person that comes out, because there's a lot I want to prove, there's a lot I want to accomplish, there's a lot I want to show the world of football that I am that they said I wasn't."

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