Inside The Vikings

Dalton Risner is Ready to Join the Vikings if They Make the Call

Risner, who is still a free agent, made it known on social media that he's ready to go.

Will Ragatz

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Dalton Risner is ready to join the Vikings if he gets the call.

The 28-year-old guard, who remains a free agent, made that very clear on Sunday. He replied to a bunch of tweets from Vikings fans who were frustrated with their interior offensive line's performance in the season-opening loss to the Buccaneers.

Risner visited the Vikings early in training camp but wasn't signed. That visit allowed him to get to know the team's front office and coaching staff a bit better — and vice versa. Risner is already quite familiar with Vikings offensive line coaches Chris Kuper and Justin Rascati, who coached him with the Broncos from 2019-21.

A former second-round pick out of Kansas State, Risner started 62 games at left guard for Denver over the past four years. He consistently graded well in pass protection, which is the biggest area of concern with the Vikings' interior OL. Risner is a durable, proven starter who has seemingly been patiently waiting for the right opportunity to arise in free agency.

Risner is obviously good enough to have signed with a team a long time ago. But whether due to contract demands or concerns about fit, he never agreed to a deal this offseason, instead deciding to remain a free agent into the start of regular season. The hope, presumably, is that injury or poor performance from a starting guard somewhere will cause a team to become willing to sign him at the contract number his camp is seeking.

Will the Vikings be that team? Never say never.

Kirk Cousins was sacked twice on Sunday, including an Antoine Winfield Jr. strip-sack on a blitz. Second-year right guard Ed Ingram also accidentally knocked the ball out of Cousins' hands on a key fumble early in the game. From an overall standpoint, though, I don't know that the Vikings saw anything from Ingram or left guard Ezra Cleveland against the Buccaneers that was particularly alarming or unexpected. It's hard to say how the guards played without having seen the tape.

In other words, while Risner would be an upgrade from either of the Vikings' guards in pass protection, that was also true six weeks ago when they chose not to sign him. The financial aspect of his free agency feels like a very important factor in this situation. The only thing that has really changed for the Vikings is that starting 0-1 — and facing a quick turnaround before traveling to Philadelphia for Thursday Night Football — creates some additional urgency.

Risner is ready to be a Viking. Will GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah make the call?

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Will Ragatz
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