Risner earned the best PFF.com offensive grade of his seven-year career, which began with the Denver Broncos from 2019 through 2022, and he was a steady blocker in both the run and passing game. He also led the Bengals’ offensive line in terms of grade (71.5) and allowed two sacks in 14 games and 17 total pressures.
“With Dalton Risner, you know, he came in late to the process and really fit in,” Tobin said last week at the NFL Combine. “I thought it ended up being a great fit for him in how we play, and he became a great fit for us and came in and filled the need for us. Did a nice job, fit in well, got a ton of respect for him, really enjoyed getting to know him. He’s really, you know, a fantastic person just to be around in the locker room on a day-to-day basis. And he’s a guy that we’ve talked to, and we’ll see if we can get something done. He’s got decisions to make, and we’ve got decisions to make, and he’s a guy that we like a lot.”
Now, the Bengals have their entire starting offensive line returning for the 2026 season, and the contract saves Risner from yet another stressful free agency period.
This would have been his fourth go-around at free agency, but more than anything, he wanted to avoid a long wait to see where he would land. Risner hit free agency last year, after two seasons with Minnesota, and didn’t end up finding a home for 2025 until signing with the Bengals on Aug. 28.
The Vikings initially signed him to a one-year deal in September 2023, and he ended up agreeing to another one-year contract in May 2024. All those late signings put him behind in his preparation, though he was starting with Cincinnati by Week 2.
“I’m sure you guys saw my New Year’s resolution: I don’t want to be signed in August or September,” Risner said in January. “That’s hard on the mental, that’s hard on the physical. It’s huge because showing up here in April, you can start building what I started to build here in August. We can start doing that in April. And we can pick up where we left off. And I just think it’s so important for us as an offensive line to keep that moving forward.”
Risner said in January that he and his wife wanted to find a house and finally be able to settle down.
By signing him now, the Bengals didn’t have to try to outbid other teams.
“I’ve said that I don’t want to get to that mess of getting other teams involved,” Risner said in January. “I’d love to just let it be a thing between me and the Bengals. I hope they call me later today. I hope they call me tomorrow. You know what I mean? It’s one of those things for me where I just got to sit and be patient and let my agent do the work that my agent does. And if they want me here, I want to be here.”
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