Vikings News: Minnesota reportedly signing versatile offensive lineman

For the last few months, a number of Minnesota Vikings fans have been begging the team to sign former Denver Broncos offensive lineman Dalton Risner. Well, it appears this section of the Vikings fan base is going to get their wish.

On Monday, NFL Media's Ian Rapoport shared that Minnesota and Risner have reportedly agreed to a one-year contract worth up to $4 million.

Earlier this year, the Vikings hosted Risner for a visit, which excited a bunch of the team's fan base. However, no deal between Minnesota and the veteran offensive lineman was able to be completed at that time.

Fast forward to Monday and the Vikings are adding a guy in Risner who started 62 games in the last four seasons with the Broncos. All of his starts in Denver were made as a left guard, however, he spent time lining up at center and as an offensive tackle during his college career at Kansas State.

As the Broncos' starting left guard last season, Risner allowed three sacks and 29 pressures, which is 24 fewer pressures than the amount that Minnesota's current starting left guard, Ezra Cleveland, allowed in 2022 (53).

Are the Vikings bringing Risner in to be a starter? Probably not immediately, but if Cleveland or right guard Ed Ingram are not playing up to Minnesota's standards, then we could certainly see the team give their newest offensive lineman an opportunity to start this season.

Following the recent injury to offensive tackle Oli Udoh and the fact that center Garrett Bradbury (back) and left tackle Christian Darrisaw (ankle) are both currently dealing with injuries, the Vikings' need for offensive line depth definitely increased after their loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last week.

Is Risner about to be the answer to Minnesota's problems with their offensive line? Let's not place any wagers on that happening, but it's hard to imagine he could be any worse than what we've seen from the Vikings' interior offensive linemen so far this year.