Tag: Anthony Chickillo

Former Steelers linebacker Anthony Chickillo retires from NFL

Anthony Chickillo retires after six NFL seasons.

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Former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Anthony Chickillo announced via his Instagram on Sunday that he is retiring from the NFL at the age of 28. Chickillo spent five of his six NFL seasons with the Steelers after Pittsburgh drafted him in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL draft.

Chickillo made his name with Pittsburgh on special teams. A converted defensive end, Chickillo never made a successful transition to 3-4 outside linebacker in the NFL but was always highly productive on coverage teams.

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Broncos sign OLB Anthony Chickillo off Saints’ practice squad

The Broncos have signed Anthony Chickillo off the Saints’ practice squad.

The Denver Broncos will sign outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo off the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The Broncos had an open spot on the 53-man roster after placing cornerback A.J. Bouye on injured reserve Wednesday. Bouye will be eligible to return after three weeks. After adding Chickillo, the 53-man roster will be full.

Unprotected practice squad players are eligible to leave their team if another team offers them a spot on the active roster. Chickillo was not one of New Orleans’ four protected players so Denver was allowed to sign him.

Chickillo (6-3, 255 pounds) entered the league as a sixth-round pick out of Miami with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2015. He spent the first five years of his career in Pittsburgh before joining the Saints in May.

Chickillo served primarily as a rotational pass rusher and special teams contributor with the Steelers. He totaled 92 tackles, 7.5 sacks and three pass breakups from 2015-2019. Chickillo will likely have a similar role with the Broncos.

After placing Von Miller on injured reserve, Denver now has four outside linebackers on the active roster: Bradley Chubb, Jeremiah Attaochu, Malik Reed and Chickillo. The Broncos also have two backup outside linebackers — Derrek Tuszka and Isaiah Irving — on the 16-man practice squad.

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Former Steelers LB Anthony Chickillo signs with Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos signed the former Steeler off of the New Orleans Saints practice squad this week.

Former Steelers linebacker Anthony Chickillo has made a deal with the enemy. Ailing at the linebacker position after their star Von Miller was placed on injured reserve, the Denver Broncos signed Chickillo off the New Orleans Saints practice squad. This is according to the linebacker’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus.

In 65 games with Pittsburgh, Chickillo recorded 7.5 sacks, 97 tackles (11 for loss), 15 QB hits, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.

The Steelers released Chickillo in March in an effort to create breathing room in the cap. By doing so, they saved $5 million in cap space.

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Broncos poach Saints practice squad LB Anthony Chickillo

The New Orleans Saints practice squad lost linebacker Anthony Chickillo to the Denver Broncos, who needed help after Von Miller’s injury.

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Anthony Chickillo signed with the New Orleans Saints as a Pittsburgh Steelers free agent over the summer, but a training camp injury kept him from competing for a roster spot in earnest. He ended up joining the Saints practice squad as one of several veteran players teams can retain due to new rules changes, along with defensive lineman Margus Hunt and wide receiver Bennie Fowler.

However, on Thursday ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Chickillo was leaving for an opportunity with the Denver Broncos. Denver recently lost all-star pass rusher Von Miller to an ankle injury, and they’ve been trawling rosters around the league looking for new additions to help fill that void. So for Chickillo, the odds of getting on the field are better in Denver than in New Orleans, where he’s buried on the depth chart.

This is a move that New Orleans could have blocked, had they chosen to. Teams are allowed to protect four practice squad players each week from being signed by another team, but they have opted not to do that through the first two weeks of the regular season. The Saints could have also signed Chickillo to their active roster, but they must have other plans in place.

The Saints now have several holes on their roster to address, speaking strictly from a numbers perspective. They have not replaced rookie punter Blake Gillikin on the 53-man roster after he landed on injured reserve last week, and Chickillo’s departure creates a vacancy on the 16-member practice squad. Stay tuned for corresponding moves as the Saints work to get back to full strength.

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4 Saints players miss first training camp practice in pads

The New Orleans Saints were not at full strength in their first training camp practice in pads, missing LG Andrus Peat and TE Josh Hill.

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The New Orelans Saints held their first training camp practice session in pads on Monday, but they weren’t at full strength. Four players were absent, including starting left guard Andrus Peat, co-starter tight end Josh Hill, undrafted rookie cornerback Tino Ellis, and veteran free agent pickup Anthony Chickillo.

However, Hill was the only player Payton offered an explanation for, saying that the tight end has missed time with a “tweak.” Whether the other players were dealing with recent injuries, personal issues, or the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol remains to be seen.

Hill’s loss is bigger than it appears; he’s one of Payton’s favorite players on the roster. He described Hill’s midgame exit with a concussion last season as “like losing your front door,” and had to spend an extended time on the bench retooling his playsheet. While Hill won’t set the world on fire with his receiving stats, there may not be another player Payton trusts more to execute blocking assignments and handle such a broad range of responsibilities.

Another example of Hill’s importance to the team: he’s appeared in 103 regular season games for the Saints, nearly as many as John Carney (108), Pat Swilling (107), Mark Ingram (106), and Pierre Thomas (105), and more than Joe Horn (102), Lance Moore (101), and Jimmy Graham (78). While this injury doesn’t sound like a long-term problem, Hill’s importance to the offense can’t be undersold. Hopefully he and the other absentees will return soon.

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Saints-Anthony Chickillo contract is the latest to skirt the salary cap

The New Orleans Saints signed ex-Pittsburgh Steelers LB Anthony Chickillo to a free agent contract that qualifies for a salary cap loophole.

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The New Orleans Saints are known for using every salary cap loophole they can get their hands on, and their latest moves are no different. Former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Anthony Chickillo signed a free agent contract with the team that maintains the Saints’ salary cap flexibility.

As first reported by Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, Chickillo’s one-year deal with the Saints qualifies for the veteran salary benefit. It means that he’ll count just $887,500 against this year’s salary cap, even if the Saints agreed to pay him a $910,000 base salary with a $137,500 signing bonus — for a total of $1,047,500.

This provision in the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement is designed to help teams sign veteran players to near-minimum salaries without sacrificing extra salary cap space. For cap-savvy teams like the Saints, it’s a way to load up their roster with good players without breaking the bank.

The Saints have now signed seven players to their 90-man offseason roster who qualify for this benefit, including Chickillo. And the players they’re signing aren’t just fodder for training camp:

  1. Defensive lineman Margus Hunt ($1.05 million base salary)
  2. Fullback Michael Burton ($910,000 base salary)
  3. Cornerback Johnson Bademosi ($1.05 million base salary)
  4. Running back Dwayne Washington ($910,000 base salary)
  5. Running back Ty Montgomery ($910,000 base salary)
  6. Offensive lineman Patrick Omameh ($1.05 million base salary)
  7. Linebacker Anthony Chickillo ($910,000 base salary)

And they might not be finished yet. The contract details on their agreement with longtime Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman James Hurst have not been reported, but he should be seen as a good candidate to qualify for this benefit. The challenge is finding players who are willing to sign on for a minimum salary, but the Saints have found ways to offer them opportunities and take advantage of it. Winning 13 games in each of the last two seasons with a Super Bowl in their sights for 2020 might have helped out.

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Anthony Chickillo expects a smooth transition to Saints’ scheme

The New Orleans Saints signed Anthony Chickillo, a career backup and special teams ace with the Pittsburgh Steelers who likes his chances.

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The New Orleans Saints got deeper at linebacker by signing Anthony Chickillo, a backup and special teams ace for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And Chickillo immediately faced questions about how he’d adapt to live in the Saints defense — largely built around four-man fronts — after a career in the Steelers’ 3-4, where he often played with a hand in the dirt.

Fortunately, the Saints are one of many modern defenses embracing versatility in today’s NFL. They don’t limit themselves to a 3-4 or 4-3 on every snap, or even ask the big men up front to always play with a hand in the dirt. There’s room for a variety of skills sets in their scheme. And that appealed to Chickillo when he was weighing his options in free agency.

“I’m not entirely sure (where he’ll be lining up), but I know I’m putting my hand back down in the dirt,” Chickillo said in a recent conference call with local media. “In Pittsburgh, we were in a two-point stance. We were in a 3-4 and still on some passing situations I was able to put my hand down, so it’s not like I haven’t done in the past five years.”

Chickillo added that he’s looking forward to rushing against blockers from a three-point stance, which he did often in college at defensive end for the Miami Hurricanes. The added leverage and burst off the snap he enjoys from that stance is, in his words, “a lot of fun.”

He’s not the only new addition with that background. Zack Baun, one of the four Saints draft picks, often played up on the line of scrimmage at Wisconsin. Like Chickillo, Baun was sometimes asked to rush upfield out of a three-point stance, though the rookie did his best work from a stand-up look. Having two comparable skills sets should push both players to give it their all, making sure that every opportunity is fully earned.

However, it shouldn’t be a shock if both Baun and Chickillo end up getting looks at defensive end. The Saints lost veteran reserve Noah Spence to a torn ACL while he was working out privately, and could use any boost they can get. The mix-and-match personnel alignments the Saints feature up front would have probably seen the two linebackers slide over anyway, but the Saints are incentivized even more now to try them out in different spots.

When asked whether he anticipates an adjustment to his new team, Chickillo anticipated some sort of learning curve, but nothing he couldn’t handle: “Like I said in Pittsburgh, I was rushing out of a three-point stance, really whenever we ran our nickel package.”

And Chickillo doesn’t think that it’s an accident that the Saints came calling with this role in mind. He recalled two games against New Orleans in which he showed the Saints coaching staff what they may have been looking for.

He continued, “I got to (play in a three-point stance) a whole bunch and when we played New Orleans in the (2016) preseason, I was rushing out of a three-point stance in the Superdome and when we played in the (2018) regular season I was rushing off a three-point stance. I’m sure the coaches saw that I was able to do that.”

Chickillo also said that his background in special teams — where he’s taken more career snaps than on defense — should help his chances of making the roster in New Orleans. The Saints have several linebackers competing for a handful of roster spots, and any edge they can provide in the game’s third phase could be what decides who makes it through roster cuts in September.

Now, whether Chickillo ends up being a better option than Craig Robertson, Kaden Elliss, Joe Bachie, or even Kiko Alonso remains to be seen. But he’s not lacking for confidence, and there’s a lot to be said for that. It’s just another fun training camp battle for fans to watch later this summer.

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Report: Noah Spence tore his ACL preparing for Saints training camp

The New Orleans Saints placed Noah Spence on the non-football injury list after he tore his ACL while preparing for their 2020 training camp

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Tough news for the New Orleans Saints comes from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, who reports that veteran defensive end Noah Spence was put on the reserve/non-football injury list after tearing an ACL in his knee while getting ready for their late-summer training camp.

Spence doesn’t have an extensive injury history — he did miss go down halfway through the 2017 season after hurting his shoulder, but otherwise has turned in a clean bill of health. So this shouldn’t be seen as the sort of recurring issue that has ended other players’ careers.

And because the Saints placed Spence on the non-football injury list rather than injured reserve, he will not test waivers. He’ll remain with the Saints (even if he doesn’t count against the 90-man roster) and be able to receive treatment from team doctors once their facilities reopen, and have the opportunity to practice and pursue a roster spot once his body is right.

But ACL injuries can end a year before it begins, and Spence is definitely in a tight spot right now. Here’s hoping for a full recovery.

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Saints place Noah Spence on reserve, sign Anthony Chickillo

The New Orleans Saints formally signed Steelers linebacker Anthony Chickillo and placed Noah Spence on the reserve/non-football injury list.

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The New Orleans Saints designated veteran pass rusher Noah Spence to the reserve/non-football injury list, as first reported by ESPN’s Field Yates and confirmed by The Athletic’s Katherine Terrell. Terrell added that this opened a roster spot for the team to officially sign Anthony Chickillo.

It’s an odd move for Spence, who finished the 2019 season on the Saints’ roster without any notable injuries. Initially signed after starting defense end Marcus Davenport was lost to injured reserve, Spence was a backup for New Orleans who was never activated for a game.

But keeping him on the non-football injury list allows Spence to remain in contact with the Saints over the summer, and potentially return for training camp if his body allows it. Last year, rookie linebacker Chase Hansen spent the year on this same list while recovering from offseason back surgery. Without further details on Spence, we simply can’t say for certain when he’ll be back. In the meantime, he won’t count against the 90-man roster,

Update: NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Spence tore his ACL while preparing for training camp, privately working out during a time in which he’d normally be in New Orleans going through organized team activities. It’s a big blow for Spence personally, but at least he’ll still be involved in day-to-day operations with the Saints once the season starts.

As for Chickillo: the former Pittsburgh Steelers special teams ace figures to push Saints draft pick Zack Baun in training camp. Baun’s unique skills set as a versatile playmaker at the line of scrimmage isn’t really shared by other teammates, so while he should be expected to beat Chickillo in camp he’ll at least have someone to work against. But don’t sleep on Chickillo’s NFL experience giving him an edge over other backups looking for a roster spot.

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Former Steelers LB Anthony Chickillo signs with Saints

Anthony Chickillo has signed a one-year contract with the New Orleans Saints.

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ESPN NFL reporter Adam Schefter is reporting via agent Drew Rosenhaus that former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Anthony Chickillo has signed a one-year contract with the New Orleans Saints for this season.

The Steelers drafted Chickillo in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL draft out of the University of Miami. Chickillo was a converted defensive end who tried to make the switch to a 3-4 rush outside linebacker with Pittsburgh but could never provide much help on defense.

Chickillo only has 7.5 sacks through five seasons but his real impact was on special teams. The Saints are getting a high-motor guy who can provide a serious spark on coverage teams.

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