NFL UPDATED: As the Green Bay Packers and the Vikings formally reached an agreement for his replacement, the Vikings announced that they had placed offensive tackle Dalton Risner on injured reserve.

He’ll be eligible to return in Week 5

We’ve speculated about which players the Minnesota Vikings might place on injured reserve as they trim their roster to 53 players. Because of a new NFL rule, teams can place two players on IR as a part of their final cuts while still reserving the ability to designate them for return later in the year.

Well, the Vikings have filled one of those spots, and they’ve filled it with a player that it doesn’t appear a lot of people had thought would end up there.

The team has announced that they have placed offensive lineman Dalton Risner on injured reserve. This means he will have to miss the first four games of the regular season but will be eligible to return as early as Week 5.

Risner was re-signed by the Vikings in late May to a relatively modest deal and started training camp as a backup at guard to Blake Brandel and Ed Ingram. For the past few weeks, he’s been dealing with a back injury and has been unable to practice or play, and that has led the Vikings to place him on IR.

While this move allows the Vikings to keep Risner, it might leave them a bit shorthanded up front as far as backup offensive linemen are concerned. They do have one veteran in Dan Feeney who can back up on the interior, but beyond him there are a lot of unproven players. It will be interesting to see who the Vikings decide to keep as their primary backups at those spots.

That means the Vikings have just one more IR spot that they can use on someone and still give them the opportunity to return later in the year. Much of the speculation has centered around UDFA edge defender Gabriel Murphy, but we won’t know for sure until the team announces what move it is.

Once the Vikings make more roster moves in an effort to trim their roster to 53, we’ll bring them to you. In the meantime, check out our Roster Cut Tracker to make sure you’re up to date on the latest news.