Sometimes, free agents take longer to find a team than expected. However, this offseason has been different for the Minnesota Vikings, thanks to an abundance of salary cap space, which has allowed general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to make bold moves early on.
This wasn’t always the case in previous offseasons under Kwesi and head coach Kevin O’Connell, who took over decision-making for the Vikings. But with an influx of cap room for 2025, Minnesota now boasts the 5th highest-paid offensive line in the NFL—a stark contrast to the last two years, when they were scrambling to find affordable interior linemen right up until the regular season began.
In those years, the Vikings ended up bringing back the same guard, Dalton Risner, in both 2023 and 2024, due to their lack of options. In 2023, Minnesota didn’t sign Risner until September, despite fans clamoring for his addition for weeks. After the signing, the Vikings felt comfortable enough to trade Ezra Cleveland before the trade deadline, securing Risner as the starting left guard for the season.
Interestingly, Risner attributes his signing to the Vikings to the passionate pressure from the fans. In a recent TikTok post, the 29-year-old free agent expressed that without the constant demand from Minnesota’s fans, he wouldn’t have ended up in a Vikings uniform. “The fans wanted me there. They hounded, they pounded the table for me, and guess what? I became a Minnesota Viking,” he shared, recalling the energy from the crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Risner, who spent the first four years of his career with the Denver Broncos, was brought in by the Vikings in September 2023. However, Minnesota never seemed to plan on keeping him long-term, opting instead to move Blake Brandel to left guard and giving Ed Ingram a shot at the right guard position. Now, Risner is likely heading to his third NFL team in six seasons.
Though he was a solid teammate and professional, the Vikings appeared to have some reservations about Risner beyond his struggles with run-blocking. To strengthen their offensive line, they’ve now signed Will Fries and Ryan Kelly.
Risner’s time in Minnesota was plagued with some injury concerns, but he played in 25 games over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, starting 19 of them. In 2024, Risner earned $2.41 million, which is likely in the ballpark of what he’s hoping to secure in free agency this year.
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