For anyone who will listen, this space has served as unabashed pro-Dalton Risner propaganda. The question is, will the Cincinnati Bengals come to their senses and re-sign their exceptional right guard before he hits free agency in earnest?
Risner has bounced to three different teams since entering the NFL in 2019. He appears to have found a home in Cincinnati as part of the unit protecting Joe Burrow. Despite how late he joined the team just before the start of this past season, Risner established himself as a real locker room leader.
All indications are that Risner wants to stay put. Given how bad the Bengals' guard play has been in the Burrow era, there's no excuse not to re-sign him.
"This is where I want to be. I want to play for this organization. I want to be a Cincinnati Bengal."
— Joe Danneman (@FOX19Joe) January 5, 2026
Dalton Risner says he doesn't want to get to free agency. He wants to play another season in Cincinnati. pic.twitter.com/4gbLzp53WQ
But it goes beyond that. Risner's mentoring of (and bromance with) a key Cincinnati youngster is vital for the trajectory of Burrow's prime and the franchise's overall future.
Dalton Risner & Amarius Mims forge bromantic bond to fortify right side of Bengals' o-line
Right tackle Amarius Mims was a first-round pick in 2024 and a polarizing one at that. An injury history during his time at Georgia limited his live reps. It seemed like another unnecessarily risky first-round pick, complete with a lacking collegiate production profile.
My nickname for Mims ever since he was drafted, though, is "Too Big to Fail." In other words, at 6'8" and 350 pounds with freakish movement skills for that size, there's not much that can go wrong for Mims with even the most passing competence from the coaching staff tasked with his development.
It looks like the Bengals found a winner in offensive line coach Scott Peters this season. After some early struggles, Cincinnati's trench fellas paved huge running lanes and protected the quarterback better than ever during Burrow's career.
A big part of that equation was the stability Risner brought to right guard, and how his high level of play fed Mims' confidence for a Year 2 ascent. Look at these guys loving each other up on social media and in the press.
Unfinished BIZ 👊🏻 Let’s goooo baby boi!!!! https://t.co/lJFbLrA5tR
— Dalton Risner (@Dalton_Risner66) January 5, 2026
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Amarius Mims hopes the Bengals bring back Dalton Risner.
— Dan Hoard (@Dan_Hoard) January 6, 2026
“I want him to be my right guard as long as I’m here,” Mims said. “I think he’s the best right guard in the NFL.”
I shared that comment with Risner.
“That’s super kind man,” he said. “I don’t know about best right guard… pic.twitter.com/9iRPKdNLXc
At the end of that last bit, Risner gasses up Mims as someone who's tracking to be one of the best right tackles in the sport. Data suggests the 23-year-old is indeed headed in that direction.
Amarius Mims had the best game of his career in Week 18 vs. the Browns, per PFF.
— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) January 5, 2026
This comes one week after posting his previous highest graded game.
Since Week 13, he has an elite PFF grade of 81.5, which is 11th best of 84 qualified OTs.
Incredible close to year 2. https://t.co/Z1JC0lOuW9
Again, Too Big to Fail. There just aren't many men on the planet who move like Mims does at his size.
So Duke Tobin, if you're reading, first of all, congrats on keeping your job. It's undeserved, but you can build some serious goodwill by re-upping on Risner prior to free agency opening in March. You haven't had many wins lately, and while you admittedly *backed into* signing Risner last-minute, this would be a great happy accident to double down on!