Dalton Risner Explains Long-Term Impact Desire With Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals have an established leader on their offensive line.

Oct 12, 2025; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Cincinnati Bengals guard Dalton Risner (66) during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With NFL teams constantly chopping and changing their staff and players, it can quickly turn players into a “me-first” mindset, and it's hard to blame them. With this, it's becoming increasingly rare for teams to have their respective cult heroes, so when you find someone who looks towards the team rather than himself, you need to take good care of them, and for the Cincinnati Bengals, that player is guard Dalton Risner. 

Heading into free agency following the 2024 season, Risner had already accumulated 87 games in the NFL with both the Denver Broncos and the Minnesota Vikings, yet he still had kinks in his game to iron out, so when the Bengals offered a one-year deal last offseason, there was no guarantee Risner was going to be there next season. 

However, his 69.4 overall PFF grade in year one in the AFC North proved there was still loads of talent in Risner, causing the Bengals to extend his contract for another season worth up to $5 million. 

While most players would be solely focused on clawing themselves back to the top of the depth chart, Risner’s team-first approach oozed through during his appearance on Dan Hoard’s “Bengals Booth Podcast.” 

“I want to make an impact on my teammates. I don't want to be a guy that is so caught up in myself and my own story that when guys look back on me, they say, ‘yeah, like good player,’ and that's all they have to say,” opened Risner earlier this month.

Risner was originally selected in the second round of the 2019 NFL to the Broncos, where he spent 62 games before tacking on 25 more with the Vikings.

“I would hope some of these guys can look back and say, like, ‘man, I learned so much from that guy, the type of human being he was, the type of man he was. I look up to, and I admire.’ So I guess I just try to be fully me and what comes with that is trying to help some of these guys,” finished Risner. 

The former Kansas State Wildcat brings eight years of experience with him, making him the most experienced guard by a country mile on the roster and the third-most experienced player across the offensive line, behind just Ted Karras (11) and Orlando Brown Jr. (9).

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