Vikings bring back guard Dalton Risner on 1-year deal as interior line remains unsettled

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings are bringing back left guard Dalton Risner with the interior of their offensive line remaining an area in need of improvement.

Risner agreed to a one-year contract to return to the Vikings, his agents Drew Rosenhaus and Shawn O'Dare said Wednesday. Risner, who spent the first four seasons of his career with the Denver Broncos, signed with the Vikings last year two games into the regular season. He started 11 games, moving into the lineup after Ezra Cleveland suffered a foot injury. Risner solidified that spot when Cleveland was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Vikings, earlier in the offseason, re-signed Blake Brandel to a three-year contract worth as much as $9.5 million in a vote of confidence in the 2020 sixth-round draft pick's ability to slide into the starting left guard spot. Brandel began his career as a tackle.

But bringing Risner back can only help shore up the middle. He has only been called for a total of two holding penalties and four false starts in 77 career games in the NFL.

Ed Ingram has been the starting right guard for the Vikings in each of his first two seasons in the league, but the 2022 second-round draft pick has had his share of struggles adjusting to NFL play.

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