The Bengals locked up the only starter set to hit free agency before it came to that, and Risner gave up a chance to test the market just to return and avoid another drawn-out offseason. Risner, who only arrived in Cincinnati a week before the 2025 season started, had signed one-year deals with Minnesota in September 2023 and May 2024, following four seasons in Denver, and was grateful he didn’t have to go through that again.
“The Bengals and myself, I think, were proactive in getting this deal done ever since the season ended, but it got to a point for me where I started putting pressure on my agent,” Risner said Monday in a press conference at Paycor Stadium. “… I didn’t really care to hit free agency and see if someone wanted to sign me to a two- or three-year deal, or maybe pay me more cash for a year. I wanted to be a Cincinnati Bengal and I got to a point where we were so close in terms that it was time to get a deal done. So, the Bengals did a lot of compromising, and I did a lot of compromise, and we came to a middle point, to a middle ground to sign the deal, and I was so thankful for that.”
Risner said this was the first organization he came to that made him not want to test the market. He credited coach Zac Taylor as the big reason he wanted to return, but he also shared that he feels he is going to be at his best working with offensive line coach Scott Peters and playing alongside center Ted Karras and right tackle Amarius Mims and protecting a quarterback like Joe Burrow.
The Bengals’ offensive line made Risner feel welcome and valued right from the start, and Risner said the chemistry of the unit was unique. He was surprised to hear guys he had never played with before talking him up in interviews with local media as soon as he arrived.
Ted Karras had called him one of the greatest examples of professionalism after Risner made his way into the opener at Cleveland, despite arriving just a week prior, and Orlando Brown Jr. was calling him “a dawg” the team needed before he had played any snaps.
“They’re speaking so highly of me, and they’re the centerfolds of this football team, and I don’t know what I did to deserve that, but really grateful that they did,” Risner said. “And I think that because of the way they opened their arms and accepted me, it allowed me to come in here and just focus on being exactly what I was.”
Risner entered the opener at right guard when Lucas Patrick went down with an injury, and he started the next two games before he was back on the bench. After playing just one offensive snap in Week 5 against Detroit, he was tapped to step in for injured left guard Dylan Fairchild, and he said those two starts at his original position helped him get back in the swing of things.
The 30-year-old earned the best PFF.com offensive grade of his seven-year career last season, 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 just two sacks and 17 total pressures in 14 games with 11 starts.
“Dalton is a critical part of our team, critical part of our offensive line,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “A guy that showed up a week before the season started, before the first game, played over half that game and continued to play at a high level all season for us, gave us a ton of confidence in our offensive line play. Dalton is not only is a high-talent level but a wealth of experience, brings a lot of veteran leadership to our team and our offense, and we’re really happy to have him and his wife, Whitney, back in the fold.”
Risner said he was especially motivated last year after he had finished a playoff season with the Vikings and went seven months without a team. He was training on his own in an unincorporated community in Parrish, Florida, on a small patch of grass he had to workout on and questioning why he was still doing it.
As a free agent, he had no team facility or trainers to utilize, and Risner said he was frustrated that he was still unsigned. Still, he kept working, and it proved worthwhile.
“It’s so cool to think back to all that work and all that work that I did, it paid off, like, because when I showed up here, I thought I was going to have three or four weeks before I was really going to be put in the fold, but there was an injury and they counted on me,” Risner said. “So thankful I was in my playbook, but really, like, I was mentally and physically ready because of all the work that I did. … That’s the reason I was able to go into the Dawg Pound and play for the Cincinnati Bengals, and then to be sitting here today after so many people said, ‘Hey, once you take the league-minimum deal, … you’re not going to be able to really sign a deal that’s bigger.’
“So, that’s why I feel like I’m filled with so much gratitude and thankfulness is because of that long offseason and how hard it was every single day to get up and work, no matter what everyone else said, kind of written off.”
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