The outgoing Dalton Risner had never met anyone on the Bengals offensive line. But that changed quickly Thursday when he bumped into another outgoing big man as center Ted Karras met Risner walking into the locker room for the first time after signing the club's most ballyhooed free-agent deal of the year.

"I'm Ted," said Karras, grabbing a hand and slapping an arm.

"I'm Dalton," said Risner, grabbing back. "I've heard a lot of good things."

"Going out today?" Karras asked.

"I'm putting the cleats on in 30 minutes," Risner said.

Not only did Risner do individual drills and stretch it out with the Bengals right off the plane, but head coach Zac Taylor wouldn't rule out Risner being available in 10 days for the opener in Cleveland.

All indications are the starting right guard remains another vet free-agent in Lucas Patrick with fifth-rounder Jalen Rivers behind him. But Taylor allowed there's nothing wrong with having a solid veteran of 81 NFL starts on the depth chart.

"Another veteran player who has performed well during his time in the league. The timing is good to get him in here a week before the game and see where he's at," Taylor said before Thursday's practice. "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."

The Bengals have been courting the popular Risner for about a month, but he feels like it's been six years. He says ever since the Broncos took him with the 41^st pick in 2019, Bengals fans have been all over him.

"It's been so cool. I've been wondering about the Bengals organization since the day I was drafted because of the love I've been shown and the support of Who-Dey Nation," Risner said. "I think the fan base has maybe valued the football player I am, or the personality I have. I'm not sure."

What is certain is that Bengals were picking in the vicinity Denver took Risner in 2019, but traded down from No. 42 to pick up Washington tight end Drew Sample. Sample is still here as the Bengal with the most tenure, and Risner is re-united with the first-rounder in Denver that year, Bengals tight end Noah Fant.

"I think this organization fits the mold for me as a person," Risner said. "Blue-collar guy that loves to work his tail off. I'm oriented around family, I care about values, and that's what this organization is built off. From what I hear, anyway, it's a family affair. It's just where I want to be. It's somewhere I think I can entrench myself."

SLANTS AND SCREENS

In order to make room for Risner, the Bengals cut one of their six defensive tackles when they let go undrafted rookie Eric Gregory …

They still have one more spot available on the 16-man practice squad after they released tackle Devin Cochran and signed tackle Javon Foster to the squad. Foster, a second-year player out of the University of Missouri, originally was a fourth-round draft pick of Jacksonville in 2024. He played in four games for the Jaguars and was inactive in 13 …

They also signed safety Russ Yeast to the practice squad. Yeast, a third-year player out of Kansas State University, is the son of former Bengals wide receiver Craig Yeast. Russ was a seventh-round pick of the Rams in 2022. He spent his first two pro seasons (2022-23) with the Rams, then was waived by the Rams early in '24. He then spent the remainder of the last season with Carolina and Arizona on the practice squad, and Houston. He has played in 36 career games …

As he talked about the Bengals signing Vikings quarterback Brett Rypien to the squad, Taylor couldn't resist bragging on the schoolboy exploits of Rypien (Washington), Joe Burrow (Ohio) and Jake Browning (California).

"Statistically, we just wanted to have the greatest high school quarterback room of all time," Taylor said. "If you look at the stats and add them up, it's unbelievable. Can anybody tell me how many touchdowns they combined for in high school?"

Taylor went with 522.

"I threw 19 my senior year," Taylor said. "Jake has every national record. Brett has most Washington high school records, I believe. Broke Kellen Moore's.

"Those are good football states. There have been a lot of great quarterbacks come through all three of those states. Our group has done as well as anybody …