Atlanta Falcons will not part with Duke Riley anytime soon
The Atlanta Falcons signed free agent linebacker Stephone Anthony last week after backup safety J.J. Wilcox was lost for the season with a torn ACL.
The initial thought many had been this was sign that Duke Riley is done in an Atlanta Falcons uniform. As legendary broadcaster Lee Corso would say – not so fast my friends. Duke Riley is not going anywhere, no matter how badly some want him to.
Duke Riley’s salary this year is $726,500 and that makes him really attractive at this point. As a player that is nothing more than a backup and a really good special teams player, that makes him a bargain. While fans see him as a disappointment and a player that should get cut, the Falcons see him as a dynamic special teams player.
Riley struggles with angles and reading offenses. What Riley does not struggle with is speed and hitting. What better place to have him as on special teams. Fans have complained for years that the Falcons special teams has been garbage and they have; we cannot complain when a second round pick ends up being a star on those teams.
No, Riley did not work out as a linebacker and that really cost the Falcons last year when Deion Jones missed more than half the season, but there is no denying that Riley was a star on special teams and can still contribute in a big way to a Super Bowl caliber team.
Stephone Anthony was not brought in to replace Duke Riley, Anthony was brought in to replace Kemal Ishmael who was moved from linebacker to safety in order to replace J.J. Wilcox. The singing makes sense all around and may end up giving the Falcons better depth at both safety and linebacker moving forward.
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Much to the chagrin of some fans, Duke Riley is not going anywhere, but that is not a bad thing either.