Dalton Risner performed adamantly for the Minnesota Vikings, last year at left guard. He struggled in the run game, but was relatively solid in pass blocking. However, he was good enough for the Vikings to bring back this offseason (at a discount).
Despite being re-signed, he was not the penciled starter. Left guard went to Blake Brandel, while the right guard spot, for now, is still Ed Ingram’s. Head coach Kevin O’Connell preached early on in camp that there was going to be a battle at the guard position.
Minnesota Vikings to cut Dalton Risner?
But the biggest issue with Risner has been his healthy. He hasn’t practiced in multiple weeks, with what has been reported as a back injury, which has made projecting his status on the 53-man roster nearly impossible.
On Monday afternoon, though, Adam Schefter (ESPN) reported that the Vikings are placing Dalton Risner on injured reserve, with a designation to return during the season. Each NFL team has two such IR designations available to them on cut day. Risner will be one of them.
Had the Minnesota Vikings decided to cut the 29-year-old veteran, they would have had to eat his $1.1 million in guaranteed money, which could have been a big reason for why they kept him. At the same time, RG is very shaky with Ed Ingram. They could still be holding out hope that a healthy Dalton Risner is an improvement at that position.
What’s next for Minnesota Vikings’ guard Dalton Risner?
As we wrote about recently, it was believed the Vikings were choosing between Gabe Murphy and Dalton Risner, for their last IR spot. What does this mean for Gabe Murphy? Well, he could take up that final injured reserve designation. It was believed TJ Hockenson was going to use up one of those slots.
Kevin Seifert (ESPN) reported on Monday, however, that the tight end’s PUP list designation is different than injured reserve, meaning Murphy could still occupy that 2nd special IR designation.
53-man rosters need to be submitted by Tuesday, August 27th at 3:00PM CST, around the league. That means we will get a lot more clarity on how this team will look over the next 24 hours. So… buckle up, because the Minnesota Vikings regular season is right around the corner.
