Free Agent OL Dalton Risner Set to Visit Seahawks

Minnesota Vikings guard Dalton Risner runs with the football in his hands after recovering a fumble during a regular season game. Credit: Dalton Risner/Instagram

Looking to latch on with a new team prior to the start of the 2025 season, the Seattle Seahawks will kick the tires on veteran guard Dalton Risner with only a week before the NFL’s mandated 53-man roster cutdown date.

According to ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler, Fowler has a free agent visit scheduled with the Seahawks after meeting with the Bengals in Cincinnati on Monday. Other teams could be in the mix as well with Fowler indicating the Steelers could also speak with him before he makes a decision on his football future.

Originally breaking into the league as a second round pick for the Broncos in 2019, Risner has suited up for 87 games with 81 starts over six NFL seasons, including starting the final eight games for the Vikings last season. Including a start against the Rams in the Wild Card round, he allowed 21 pressures and a sack with a 97 percent pass block efficiency rate on 398 pass blocking reps, receiving a rock solid 76.1 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus.

However, Risner wasn’t near as effective in the run blocking department (58.8), continuing a career trend where he has never finished with higher than a 63.2 run blocking grade from PFF and only twice exceeded a 60.0 score. He finished 51st out of 77 qualified guards in that category last season, leading to Minnesota replacing him by signing Will Fries in free agency and potentially explaining why he has yet to sign elsewhere.

Prior to joining the Vikings in 2023, Risner eclipsed a 97 percent pass block efficiency rate in each of his four seasons with the Broncos, consistently holding up well in pass protection. His best season came in 2020 when he didn’t yield a single sack, a feat he has accomplished twice in his six NFL seasons, as he also didn’t surrender one in his first year in Minnesota either.

Interestingly, at least based on the first two preseason games, the Seahawks have had strong returns under new offensive line coach John Benton so far with first round pick Grey Zabel and third-year blocker Anthony Bradford playing quite well this month at the guard spots. Those two have cemented their spots as starters, so if Risner hopes to find a starting opportunity, it likely won’t be in the Pacific Northwest, making the team’s apparent interest a bit perplexing.

However, Risner does have several connections to Seattle’s current coaching staff, starting with run game coordinator Justin Outten, who held the offensive coordinator position in Denver when he started 15 games for the Broncos in 2022. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak also served on that staff as a quarterback coach and called plays for a couple of games late in the season, while Risner blocked for new Seahawks starting quarterback Sam Darnold down the stretch last season and previously protected backup Drew Lock in Denver as well.

Seattle’s decision to bring Risner in for a visit could be a textbook example of general manager John Schneider not leaving any stone unturned and ultimately not lead to a signing as he continues his tour speaking with prospective teams. At the same time, it also suggests the franchise isn’t confident in the backup guard situation behind Zabel and Bradford, as former third-round pick Christian Haynes has had a challenging first two years with the organization and 2024 sixth-round pick Sataoa Laumea has taken a step back this summer after starting the final six games at right guard as a rookie last year.

If Risner isn’t against the idea of signing with a team where he won’t start, at least initially, then the Seahawks could make a ton of sense with him adding much-needed experience to a youthful offensive line group across the board. In the event Zabel or Bradford struggled early in the season or got banged up, while he isn’t a long-term starter by any means, it can be argued he would be an upgrade in the present as a swing guard over Haynes, Laumea, or rookie Bryce Cabeldue without having to invest much money on a one-year contract.