Are the Vikings Hedging Their Bets With Dalton Risner?
Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
The Dalton Risner Saga has taken many twists and turns for the Minnesota Vikings this offseason. This week we found that it wasn’t over yet, as the team placed him on the IR with a back injury.
On the surface, the move seems pretty simple: the Vikings need Risner to get healthy without taking up a roster spot. But what if there is more to this story? What if the Vikings are just trying to buy a few more weeks, or even a couple of months, to decide if they want Risner on the 53-man squad?
Risner suffered a back injury which kept him out a good chunk of training camp and all three preseason games. Back injuries are no joke, especially for offensive linemen, and it’s unclear how long the former Kansas State Wildcat will be on the shelf. At best, Risner won’t be able to return until Week 5.
Risner signed last September with the Minnesota Vikings, who named him the starting left guard by Week 7, where he remained the rest of the season. Risner wasn’t the best guard in the NFL, but he was solid, and it seemed like a no-brainer for the Vikings to bring him back in 2024.
Free agency opened on March 13, and the Vikings made a couple of big-time signings early, including Andrew Van Ginkel and Aaron Jones, but no Risner. The days continued to pass and there became more and more doubt that Risner would return.
But on May 31, Risner finally signed for $2.41 million. It raised the question: Why did it take so long to come to an agreement? It’s not a huge leap to assume that they were looking for other options for guard depth, but after things shook out, they turned back to Risner.
Risner admitted after signing that he didn’t have many other suitors in free agency, and that’s why he decided to re-up with Minnesota.
“A respect deal,” Risner said of his one-year pact “No reason to wait out (the Vikings), who had an offer on the table. To be honest with you, I wasn’t getting much action anywhere else.”
Even after Risner signed, Kevin O’Connell was quick to single out Blake Brandel and how the Vikings believed he could be better if he focused on left guard.
“Really thought [Risner] did a lot of good things when he got here last year,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said when asked about the left guard spot Tuesday. “But at the same time, [Brandel] has been a guy, really since he’s gotten here, who’s been asked to be ready to play two or three different spots at one time. So our challenge to [Brandel] was really to embrace that left guard spot through the spring. Really get the teaching and the mastery of your craft at one spot, which he hasn’t been able to do since he’s been a Minnesota Viking. We’ve seen the gains off that between, not only, [Brandel], but amongst those five offensive linemen.”
Brandel took the advice to heart and he’s now the Vikings’ starting left guard. But where does that leave Risner when he comes back? We don’t know. And honestly, we don’t know if the Vikings plan on bringing him back at all.
The Vikings currently have seven interior linemen on the roster right now: Garrett Bradbury, Ed Ingram, Blake Brandel, Dan Feeney, Henry Byrd, Tyrese Robinson, and Michael Jurgens. Is that the group the Vikings would have stuck with if Risner were healthy?
Maybe Minnesota themselves don’t know, and if that’s the case, being able to stash Risner on the IR is perfect. If any of their other offensive linemen get hurt (or they decide they’re finally over someone like Ingram), the Vikings can pluck him off the IR and plug and play him. And if everyone stays healthy and productive, Minnesota can decide to waive Risner, and no harm done.
Clearly, Risner wasn’t the team’s first choice to come back, and even though it hasn’t come out publicly, something between him and the organization doesn’t seem like it’s clicking. When Risner was signed this offseason, it looked like he would play a significant role on the offensive line. But now? Who knows? The Vikings and Risner have already realized they need each other once back in May. Being on IR has left the door for them to do it again sometime after Week 4.
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