HEADLINES

Anthony Chickillo

LB Anthony Chickillo Retires

July 11th, 2021 at 12:28pm CST by Rory Parks

Former Steelers and Broncos linebacker Anthony Chickillo is calling it a career. The 28-year-old announced his retirement via Instagram earlier today.

Chickillo entered the league as a sixth-round pick of the Steelers in 2015. Over five years in Pittsburgh, he played in 65 games, primarily as a rotational defender and as a key special teams contributor. 

After a quality platform campaign in 2018, during which he graded out as Pro Football Focus’ 40th-best edge defender out of 103 qualifiers, Chickillo drew free agent interest from the Patriots but elected to re-up with the Steelers on a two-year, $8MM contract. However, a foot injury and an assault arrest — on charges that were later dropped — marred his 2019 season, and the Steelers cut him last March.

Chickillo hooked on with the Saints several months later, but he did not survive final cutdowns and was ultimately signed to New Orleans’ practice squad. The Broncos poached him from there and he went on to appear in 11 games for Denver in 2020, with his snaps almost equally divided between defense (164) and special teams (147).

The Miami product ends his playing career with 108 tackles, 8.5 sacks, and roughly $7.5MM in career earnings. We at PFR wish Chickillo the best in the next chapter of his life.

Saints Sign Anthony Chickillo, Margus Hunt To Practice Squad

September 6th, 2020 at 4:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

Two of the Saints’ most notable Saturday cuts will stay with the team. Both Anthony Chickillo and Margus Hunt opted to stay with New Orleans, joining the practice squad Sunday.

The Saints signed Chickillo, a five-year Steelers linebacker, and Hunt — a former first-round defensive lineman whom the Colts cut earlier this year — earlier this year. Each will represent a veteran slot on the Saints’ P-squad.

Teams are permitted, thanks to the COVID-19-altered rules, to carry six veterans of unlimited service time on their taxi squads this year. Here is New Orleans’ full squad:

Saints Cut Margus Hunt, Drop Roster To 53

September 5th, 2020 at 4:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here is how the Saints moved their roster down to 53 players Saturday:

Waived:

Released:

Waived/injured:

  • RB Saquan Hamilton

Placed on reserve/PUP:

Placed on IR:

Placed on reserve/suspended list:

The Saints made some notable cuts on their defensive line, dropping Edwards and Hunt. The former played with New Orleans last season, while the latter was an offseason addition. The Colts cut Hunt earlier this year, doing so after previously extending him. However, New Orleans does have Malcom Brown back and re-signed David Onyemata in March. The Saints are pursuing Jadeveon Clowney as well.
Alonso suffered a torn ACL in the playoffs last year. He will miss at least six games. The Saints signed Fowler over the summer. The former Broncos auxiliary receiver worked out with Drew Brees and Emmanuel Sanders during the pandemic-induced NFL hiatus.
Stevens, like most of the players cut Saturday, profiles as a practice squad candidate. The Saints became involved in a strange controversy over the seventh-round pick, whom the Panthers coveted. It will be interesting to see if Carolina submits a waiver claim on Stevens.

Saints Cut DE Mario Edwards, LB Anthony Chickillo

September 5th, 2020 at 2:13pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Saints are cutting a pair of notable veteran defensive players as they trim the roster down to 53. They’ll be letting go of defensive end Mario Edwards (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network), and linebacker Anthony Chickillo (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com).

Rapoport notes that Edwards could come back on the practice squad, and also that the Saints had tried moving him in trade talks this week. A second round pick of the Raiders back in 2015, he never lived up to his draft status. He was waived after three seasons in Oakland and signed a two-year, $5MM deal with the Saints last offseason after spending 2018 with the Giants. He had three sacks with New Orleans last year.

Chickillo was drafted by the Steelers in the sixth-round in 2015, and spent the first five years of his career with Pittsburgh. He signed a two-year, $8MM extension in March of 2019, but was released earlier this offseason. He signed with the Saints in May, but couldn’t make it out of camp. The Miami product was mostly a reserve and special teams guy with the Steelers.

 

Contract Details: 5/29/20

May 29th, 2020 at 11:23am CST by Rory Parks

Here are the details on a few recently-signed contracts:

  • Eli Apple, CB (Panthers): One year. $3MM, including $750K signing bonus. Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
  • Anthony Chickillo, LB (Saints): One year. Veteran salary benefit. $1.047MM base salary ($68,750 guaranteed). Twitter link via Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football.
  • Carlos Hyde, RB (Seahawks): One year, max value of $4MM. $1.5MM base salary, $750K signing bonus, $500K in per game roster bonuses. Up to $1.25MM in incentives. Twitter link via Rapoport.

Saints Sign LB Anthony Chickillo

May 21st, 2020 at 4:30pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Saints have agreed to sign free agent linebacker Anthony Chickillo to a one-year deal, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

A sixth-round pick in the 2015 draft, Chickillo had spent his entire career with Pittsburgh until being released earlier this year. After completing his rookie contract, Chickillo inked a two-year, $8MM contact with the Steelers in 2019 despite receiving free agent interest from the Patriots. Pittsburgh decided to cut bait halfway through the deal, saving $5MM in the process.

Chickillo, 27, spent most of his Steelers career as a reserve (65 games, nine starts). His most productive campaign came in 2016, when he made seven starts and played on roughly a third of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps. Last year, Chickillo played in 11 games, racking up a half-sack and 19 total tackles.

Chickillo has spent a great deal of time on special teams duty (at least 67% playtime in each of the past four seasons), and that’s likely what he’ll do for the Saints. New Orleans is projected to start Demario Davis, Kiko Alonso, and Alex Anzalone in base sets, with Craig Robertson and rookie Zack Baun in reserve, so Chickillo isn’t even necessarily guaranteed a place on the Saints’ final roster.

Steelers Cut Mark Barron, Anthony Chickillo

March 16th, 2020 at 12:40pm CST by Zachary Links

The Steelers have released linebackers Mark Barron and Anthony Chickillo, according to a team press release. In a related move, the club also cut wide receiver Johnny Holton.

For Barron, it’s an early end to the free agent deal he inked with the Steelers one year ago. With his two-year, $12MM deal terminated, he’ll look for work elsewhere. After coming over from the Rams, Barron registered 82 tackles, three sacks, and one fumble recovery in 15 games.

Chickillo, meanwhile, has mostly played as a reserve throughout his career in Pittsburgh. He has 65 total appearances to his credit with just nine starts. All in all, he’s logged 67 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, eight sacks, three pass defenses, three forced fumbles, and lots of time on special teams.

Extra Points: Chickillo, Packers, XFL

November 22nd, 2019 at 9:52pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Steelers aren’t going to have to worry about an Anthony Chickillo suspension. The linebacker was arrested last month on charges of assaulting his girlfriend, but the charges were later dropped. The NFL conducted their own inquiry, and determined there was “insufficient evidence and the investigation is now closed with no punishment,” a source told Mark Kaboly of The Athletic (Twitter link). Chickillo was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list after the arrest, but was removed from it a few weeks back. He ended up only missing one game, a win over the Dolphins, due to the incident. He plays a rotational role on defense while also playing heavy snaps on special teams.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Tough blow for Cole Madison, as the young Packers offensive lineman suffered a torn ACL during practice earlier this week, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). It’s an especially brutal setback for Madison, who has had a rough start to his NFL career. A fifth-round pick out of Washington State back in 2018, he missed his entire rookie season with a personal issue. There were reports that Madison might never play football again, and that his decision to step away was connected to the suicide of college teammate Tyler Hilinski. Madison had yet to play this season as he was working his way back from a separate injury. Hopefully he can return for a healthy 2020.
  • The XFL is getting another relative big name. Former Steelers receiver Eli Rogers will be playing in the upstart league when it kicks off next year, he announced on Twitter. A former undrafted free agent from Louisville, Rogers had a breakout year in his first season of action back in 2016. He developed a rapport with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and ended up starting eight games while finishing 594 yards and three touchdowns. A torn ACL the following year derailed his once-promising career, and Rogers was waived at final cuts this past August. Since then he’s been making the rounds with workouts, but has been unable to latch on with an NFL team.
  • In case you missed it, quarterbacks Josh Johnson, Chase Litton, and Taylor Heinicke are also joining the XFL.

Steelers’ Anthony Chickillo Removed From Commissioner’s Exempt List

October 31st, 2019 at 8:56am CST by Zachary Links

Steelers linebacker Anthony Chickillo has been taken off the Exempt/Commissioner’s List by the league office, according to a statement from Steelers GM Kevin Colbert. With that, Chickillo will return to the Steelers’ 53-man roster.

“The league will continue to conduct an investigation of the incident, and we acknowledge that Anthony could still be subject to discipline by the League Office under the Personal Conduct Policy.”

Chickillo was charged with simple assault, criminal mischief, and harassment in October after an incident with his girlfriend. He’s no longer barred from playing after being removed from the exempt list, but a six-game ban could be in his future, if the NFL’s investigation finds him at fault.

Chickillo was originally drafted by the Steelers in the sixth-round of the 2015 draft. After playing out his rookie deal, he signed a two-year, $8MM deal to remain with the team this past March. Last season, Chickillo played around 28% of the team’s defensive snaps while also serving as a core special teamer.

Elliott has been on and off of the Steelers’ roster for the last couple of months. He’s out of work yet again, but history suggests that he might want to wait things out in the Pittsburgh area for a bit.

Load More Posts