{"id":84590,"date":"2024-01-25T01:12:51","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T01:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=84590"},"modified":"2024-01-25T01:16:08","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T01:16:08","slug":"vikings-prized-24-million-free-agent-expected-to-leave-minnesota-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/vikings-prized-24-million-free-agent-expected-to-leave-minnesota-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings\u2019 Prized $24 Million Free Agent Expected to Leave Minnesota"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u2018 midseason signing of guard\u00a0Dalton Risner\u00a0was a long-awaited move called for by the fans \u2014 but his time in Minnesota could have already come and gone.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GettyImages-1789725442-e1699908358926.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Kevin O'Connell\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Former Vikings offensive lineman Jeremiah Sirles, who is now an NFL agent, sees Risner\u2019s 2023 performance worthy of a lucrative contract that will likely price out the Vikings when he reaches free agency in March.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think he played well enough; he\u2019s going to want a bigger contract,\u201d Sirles said on a January 23 episode of the\u00a0\u201cPurple Insider\u201d podcast, adding that Minnesota should let Risner walk due to more pressing needs on the roster.<\/p>\n<p>The Vikings signed Risner, 28, to a\u00a0one-year, $3 million deal\u00a0three weeks into the season after previously letting him walk after a visit during training camp in early August.<\/p>\n<p>A coveted pass-protector, Risner did not allow a sack on 485 pass-blocking snaps in 12 games played. Pro Football Focus (PFF) predicted Risner to garner a\u00a0three-year, $24 million deal\u00a0with $15 million guaranteed and an average annual value of $8 million a season.<\/p>\n<p>Risner\u2019s signing was an all-in move before\u00a0Kirk Cousins went down with a season-ending Achilles injury and contributed to the second-best composite pass-blocking grade in the NFL.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">Pass protection composite <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FGiIXKrlKH\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/FGiIXKrlKH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/benbbaldwin\/status\/1744727964598882337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Dalton Risner Bet on Himself Last Year, Left His Hometown Broncos<\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-4226130 visible aligncenter\" style=\"font-size: 16px\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/GettyImages-1423459646-e1677028947292.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Dalton Risner\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4226130\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/GettyImages-1423459646-e1677028947292.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" \/><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_4226130\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p>After four seasons with his home state\u00a0Denver Broncos, Risner bet on himself in free agency and was resolute in not taking a deal under his asking price.<\/p>\n<p>That led to Risner wavering in free agency after the start of the season despite his visit with the Vikings on August 1. That visit was a wake-up call for starting guards\u00a0Ed Ingram\u00a0and\u00a0Ezra Cleveland.<\/p>\n<p>Even after Risner was signed, the Vikings did not make Risner a starter until Cleveland went down with an injury ahead of a Week 7 matchup with the\u00a0San Francisco 49ers\u00a0on Monday Night Football. Risner and the rest of the offensive line did not surrender a sack, helping Cousins complete 35-of-45 passes (77.8%) for 378 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 22-17 victory.<\/p>\n<p>The Vikings\u00a0traded Cleveland, who was playing in the final year of his rookie deal, two weeks later at the trade deadline in exchange for a sixth-round pick from the\u00a0Jacksonville Jaguars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Minnesota likely didn\u2019t intend to re-sign Cleveland, a 2020 second-round pick, but will be faced with questions in the interior offensive line again this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Risner is likely to bet on himself in free agency again and attempt to garner a lucrative contract in his prime.<\/p>\n<h2>Vikings Offensive Line Competition Ahead<\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-4545454 visible aligncenter\" style=\"font-size: 16px\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1613337731-e1694548864668.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Ed Ingram\" width=\"782\" height=\"439\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4545454\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1613337731-e1694548864668.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" \/><\/h2>\n<p>The Vikings are set on the bookends of their offensive lines with right tackle\u00a0Brian O\u2019Neill\u00a0and left tackle\u00a0Christian Darrisaw remaining mainstays at their respective positions.<\/p>\n<p>The Vikings were among the top pass-blocking units in the league but struggled for a second year to impose their will in the run game. The interior offensive line needs work after Ingram\u2019s second season did not inspire nor did\u00a0Garrett Bradbury\u00a0on a new deal.<\/p>\n<p>Neither player is on the cusp of being cut from the roster, nor do the Vikings have the resources for a wholesale rebuild of the line.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Vikings should attempt to create a\u00a0 competition on the interior offensive line with a mix of veterans and Day 2 developmental draft picks who could be depth pieces this season but be true candidates to challenge Ingram or Bradbury in the coming years.<\/p>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_7_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-7 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"CPKS792t94MDFaNODwIdqdMPew\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u2018 midseason signing of guard\u00a0Dalton Risner\u00a0was a long-awaited move called for by the fans \u2014 but his time in Minnesota could have already come and gone&#8230;. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84590\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}