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After using 12 different offensive line combinations in the 2023 season, the Miami Dolphins could still be in the mix for help on that end. Dalton Risner, a starter for the Minnesota Vikings in 2023, is one named on the market who could help. According to David Kenyon of Bleacher Report, the Dolphins are a potential landing spot for Risner.
“Are we doing this again? Last year, Dalton Risner went unsigned until Week 3, when the Minnesota Vikings signed him to a one-year, $3 million contract,” Kenyon wrote in his April 28 column ranking the 10 best NFL free agents available after the draft. “He proceeded to allow zero sacks and got called for only three penalties across 745 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
“Risner might not be a star, but he proved last year that he’s a starting-caliber guard.”
Risner, 28 years old, was drafted in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. He spent three seasons with the Broncos before joining the Vikings.
Adding a Backup ‘Would be Ideal’
The Miami Dolphins re-signed Isaiah Wynn, Robert Jones, and Kendall Lamm during the offseason, giving them familiar faces on the line. They also signed Aaron Brewer to a three-year deal to be their starting center.
Drafting Patrick Paul in the second round, Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald wrote that the chances of him competing for a starting role are “slim.”
“The odds of him competing for a starting guard role are slim because of his lanky frame and limited movement skills,” Kelly wrote in an April 29 column exploring positions that could use upgrades.
With Paul likely to be a backup, Kelly wrote that adding a backup interior player like the former Minnesota Vikings guard “would be ideal.”
“Adding a backup interior player such as Dalton Risner or Lucas Patrick would be ideal, especially since injuries plagued the O-line last year, and for most of this decade. Risner, 28, signed a one-year deal for $4 million last September with the Minnesota Vikings, and started 11 of the 15 games he played in,” Kelly wrote. “He has history with O-line coach Butch Barry from their season together in Denver. That could be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on their relationship.”
Dalton Risner Expected to be Signed
Despite signing with the Minnesota Vikings on September 18, 2023, Risner won a starting job. He started in 11 games and appeared in 15. He’s appeared in 15 games in every season of his five-year career.
In an interview with Vince Lovergine of WIBW 13, Risner explained how he can bring value to a team like the Miami Dolphins.
“I’m a guy that realizes I’m not the best guard in the league, but I know this: I’ve started 75 games in my five-year career. I don’t miss games due to injury, definitely don’t miss it due to anything but injury. I’m a guy that you’re going to have counted on every single Sunday,” Risner said on April 17. “I’m going to be the first to the pile. I’m going to hustle. I’m going to work my butt off. I’m not going to say I’m going to do it easily, but I’m going to block guys like Chris Jones and hold my own, and I’m just still undervalued.”
Risner later said that he thought “things would change” after signing late in the 2023 offseason.
“I played 11 games and they relied on me every Sunday,” Risner said. “I thought that things would change this offseason; here I am in April about to be May and I don’t have a job.”
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