Dalton Risner Had Opportunities to Play Elsewhere Before Signing With Bengals

The Bengals signed guard Dalton Risner last week. They're hoping the veteran can help solidify an offensive line room that has dealt with its fair share of injuries during training camp.

The Bengals brought Risner in for a visit on Tuesday, Aug. 19, but he didn't officially sign his contract until Thursday, Aug. 28. The two sides agreed to terms on the 27th.

What was that eight-day window like?

"Just a lot of back and forth, a lot of soul searching, thinking about the future, and at the end of the day, if you have interest from other teams, you want to weigh out your options, but you kind of know what the best fit is," Risner said. "I've wanted to be a Bengal the last couple of weeks. I'm not going to act like it's been a four or five month process, but the last two or three weeks, ever since my visit and communications and meeting coach (Zac) Taylor and coach (Justin) Rascati and coach (Scott) Peters, it was just somewhere I wanted to be. I told him earlier to the point of the fit here and why I feel it's a fit, it's just somewhere I want to be. It's a great opportunity as well, great offensive line room, and I don't just say all that to sound media friendly. It's just somewhere I wanted to be, and a lot of back and forth the last week and conversations with your agent, conversations with the Bengals and eventually coming to something you agree on."

The Bengals weren't the only team interested in Risner. There were reports linking him to the Seahawks and Steelers, but something kept pulling him to Cincinnati.

"There were offers out there," Risner said. "You weigh your options and you compare contracts. We could get in the weeds about it all, but when you kind of realize, for example, another team might be where the Bengals are at, the Cincinnati Bengals is where I want to be. But, you've always got to do your due dilligence. It's the NFL. You're not going to be in the NFL forever, so you want to always weigh your options and see what type of contracts are being offered to you and your agent and make the decision from there. But, as soon as I kind of felt like that's where things were at, I was like, 'Man, let's go to Cincinnati.'"

It's unclear if or when Risner will become a starter for the Bengals. Right now he's just focused on learning the playbook and doing anything the team needs him to do.

The Bengals return to practice on Monday. Then they're off Tuesday and will install the game plan for Cleveland on Wednesday and Thursday.

Will Risner make his debut against the Browns? It sounds like they plan on making him active for the game.

"Available for Cleveland, absolutely," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said when asked if Risner could dress for the game. "We'll see when we get him on the field. We had a workout with him last week and he looked great. He looks like he's in great shape. He has a great mindset. We'll get him out there, put the pads on, let him go through some stuff and see where he's at next week."