Vikings look at veteran guard Dalton Risner but don't sign him

The Vikings brought guard Dalton Risner to Eagan for a visit Tuesday, though the former Broncos starter left the Twin Cities without a deal appearing imminent.

Coach Kevin O'Connell said Risner went through a physical examination from the team's medical staff and met with Vikings coaches. Vikings offensive line coach Chris Kuper and assistant offensive line coach Justin Rascati worked with Risner in Denver, and because of their history with Risner, the Vikings didn't feel a need to work him out on the field, O'Connell said.

"It's getting him in the building, in a setting where we can get to know him a little bit better," O'Connell said. "We care very deeply about our locker room culture. The fit of players is always going to be something we have a lot of dialogue about."

Though Risner, who started 62 games at left guard for the Broncos from 2019 to '22, left without a deal, his visit added intriguing context to the Vikings' guard situation. Ezra Cleveland, whom the team drafted as a left tackle before moving to right guard and then to the left side in 2021, is scheduled to be a free agent after this season. Ed Ingram, a second-round pick a year ago, had an uneven rookie season as the starting right guard. Chris Reed, a veteran backup, is still on the physically-unable-to-perform list, and O'Connell did not have a timeline for his return Tuesday.

Risner is one of the more experienced guards still on the open market, and it's possible he will receive interest from a team with more salary cap space than the Vikings, who just boosted edge rusher Danielle Hunter's 2023 salary by $12.1 million. As Risner left Tuesday, the starting offensive line remained as it was.

"It would be purely speculation on my part to envision what a player not on our team would potentially do to that situation," O'Connell said. "One thing I will say is, we want this to be as competitive in all situations as we possibly can, hoping to put the best 11 guys out there. Competition tends to make everybody better. We've got great competition already at that particular position and are still seeing daily growth. This was purely about taking something that we feel is pretty strong and investigating the possibility of making it even better."

The Vikings continued to slowly increase Hunter's workload in individual drills, two days after the pass rusher signed a new contract that put him in line to practice with the team for the first time in 2023. O'Connell said the Vikings' priority is to have Hunter ready for a larger workload by the team's first set of joint practices with the Titans on Aug. 16-17.

"We kind of worked backward from there," O'Connell said. "And then, having the daily dialogue of, 'How do you feel?' Even as great a shape as he's in, that was our first padded practice [Monday]. That would have been a tall ask, and quite frankly, irresponsible to ask him to take full part. You'll see him, ever so subtly, do a little bit more. Eventually, it will be team drills, and it should be full-go. He came in in great shape, as Danielle Hunter always does. The expectation is, when the time's right, he'll be out there."

Vikings fans who attended Tuesday's practice were a bit startled when they watched the team's quarterbacks and did not see Kirk Cousins' No. 8 on the field. Instead, they saw a passer wearing a red No. 66 jersey throwing with backups Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall.

That passer was, in fact, Cousins, who decided to have a little fun with his uniform in practice. He put on the training camp jersey that Ryan Wright wore a year ago, before the punter made the Vikings' 53-man roster and switched to No. 14. Cousins called the move a tribute to Wright, though the jersey number wasn't the only thing that created an odd visual; Wright outweighs Cousins by 40 pounds, and the uniform hung loosely from the quarterback's shoulders.