Perry

Riley Jr.

Riley spent 2010-15 in Washington, but couldn’t make it to final cuts this summer. His 2015 was cut short by foot surgery. Riley has 63 games of starting experience, and could see immediate snaps for Oakland’s shaky defense. He provides depth with Ben Heeney (ankle) headed to I.R.

Riley has deservedly and officially passed McIntosh on the depth chart. He had nine tackles against the Dolphins last week, including four for a loss.

McIntosh is getting benched for performance reasons as the Redskins continue to flail around. Riley is the Redskins’ inside ‘backer of the future and has some immediate IDP appeal in deeper formats. McIntosh was averaging 7.0 tackles per game on the season while playing next to London Fletcher.

Riley has been impressive ever since the Redskins sent ex-starter Rocky McIntosh to the bench. The fourth-round rookie out of LSU has the look of a long-term starter at inside linebacker and should be on all IDP radars.

Riley was limited in practice this week but told the Washington Times that he expects to play Sunday. As a full-time starter, Riley has been highly-productive, recording eight or more tackles in five of his last six games. An official decision by the Redskins has yet to be made. If Riley is ruled out, Lorenzo Alexander will replace him in the starting lineup.

Riley started all 16 games for the first time in his three-year career in 2012. He finished second on the team with 129 tackles, ten stops behind fellow inside ‘backer London Fletcher. Riley, a fourth-round pick out of LSU, is entering the final year of his deal.

The Dolphins signed Ellerbe to a five-year, $34.75 million contract last March. Ellerbe predictably flopped, getting exposed in both run defense and pass coverage. The Redskins would likely have to turn elsewhere if Riley demanded that kind of dough. The sides have engaged in preliminary contract discussions, but thus far no deal is imminent. Riley turns 26 years old in May.

The Redskins want to get a deal done with their leading tackler from last season, but don’t want to set the market. They’ll likely let Riley meet with teams come March 11 and then decide if they want to match. The Post previously reported that Riley was seeking something similar to the five-year, $34.75 million Dannell Ellerbe got from the Dolphins. It would be a hefty sum for a player that graded out 46th among 55 qualifiers at 3-4 inside linebacker in PFF’s grades.

The Redskins will stick with the 3-4 in the Jay Gruden era, and there aren’t many better edge players for the scheme than Orakpo. He’s piled up 39.5 sacks in 64 career games, and is coming off a career year that saw Orakpo grade out as a top-four 3-4 OLB according to PFF. Allen has also opened talks with ILB Perry Riley and DB DeAngelo Hall, but re-signing 27-year-old Orakpo is the top priority. Last year’s top free agent outside linebacker, Paul Kruger, landed a five-year, $41 million deal with the Browns.

Riley and OLB Brian Orakpo figure to be Washington’s top two priorities to re-sign this offseason. With fellow ILB London Fletcher set to retire and no capable in-house replacements, the Redskins should be coveting Riley. He’ll turn just 26 years old in May and has started the past 40 games. Riley has had his troubles against the run, but he can get after the quarterback a bit from the inside.