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Free Agent Guard Hints At Bengals Signing

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Scott Salomon | Last updated Apr 18, 2025 5:24 PM ET

Minnesota Vikings free agent guard Dalton Risner said he will sign a contract with an NFL team in the near future. The Vikings have offered to bring him back, but as a backup behind Will Fries and Blake Brandel.

He did not seem to be too hip on that. He wants to go to a team where he can compete for a starting position.

“Minnesota has shown interest in bringing me back, but only to an extent,” Risner said in a video on social media. “I will be on a team soon, I could imagine.”

On a TikTok live just now, Dalton Risner says Minnesota has shown interest in bringing him back, but “only to an extent.” Risner said he is in talks with “multiple teams”, and he imagines to be signed soon. Risner specifically mentioned the #Broncos, #Vikings and #Bengals.

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— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) April 16, 2025

Risner has mentioned that the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals as well as two other teams are in the picture to obtain his services.

Risner, 29, was a second-round pick of the Broncos in 2019 and played out his rookie contract before signing with the Vikings as a free agent in 2023. He has been a starter throughout his career, when healthy. He began last season on injured reserve, but did come back to start the final eight games of the season, plus the playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams.

With the NFL Draft coming up on Thursday, it is entirely possible Risner will sit and wait out the draft to see if the teams' interested in him draft a guard which could compete with him. Conversely, should he sign before the draft, perhaps a team will realize they do not have to draft a guard as they have their starter already in house, with Risner.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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