As the Cincinnati Bengals begin building their roster for the 2026 season, one player has been a priority for fans to keep in the fold. After seemingly looking for a new offensive lineman every year since Joe Burrow arrived, the Bengals fielded their best unit of that era in 2025.
Orlando Brown Jr. stayed solid at left tackle, rookie left guard Dylan Fairchild played extremely well as a rookie, Ted Karras was his normal, solid self, and Amarius Mims flashed All-Pro potential in his second season. All four of those players will be back next season, which just leaves Dalton Risner.
Risner signed with Cincinnati in late August last season, and after an injury to Lucas Patrick in the first game of the season, Risner found himself playing NFL snaps just two weeks after signing his contract in Cincinnati. Risner had some early struggles while he got in to football shape, but was rock solid the second half of the season.
Risner has worked on a string of one-year deals, and the contract in Cincinnati was no different. After a solid season, he is scheduled to be a free agent when the new league year begins on March 11th. Fans want Risner back, and he publicly stated his desire to be back in Cincinnati, so the ball was seemingly in the front office’s court.
On The Who Dey Light podcast, The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. reported that negotiations between the Bengals and Risner are in a “decent place.” However, Dehner also noted that the ongoing talks will likely go all the way up to the start of free agency, which begins March 9 with the start of the legal tampering period.
“It’s gonna get up to the free agency wire,” Dehner said.
There is clear mutual interest in a return, but the two sides will likely go back and forth on contract terms and hopefully come to a deal. That would mean continuity on the offensive line, and that is something we’ve been chasing since 2020.
Risner publicly stated he would rather other teams not get involved before he signs a new contract in Cincinnati, and for the Bengals, it would be in their best interest to get a deal done before other teams can make an offer. Entering a bidding war isn’t really their style, and if they can have their offensive line set early, they can focus all of their resources on rebuilding their defense.
Time will tell if a deal will come together, but as of now, it sounds like there is a good chance.
In other news, Dehner went on to say that things will likely not work out with the Bengals keeping Joe Flacco, who will have other suitors, while Jake Browning is also not expected to be retained.
Check out the full free agency update below!
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