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I would bet if you polled over 100 Pittsburgh Steelers fans and asked them who scored the team’s first touchdown of the 2017 season, most wouldn’t know or would guess wrong.
It wasn’t Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jesse James or Martavis Bryant.
No, it was Anthony Chickillo.
Chickillo was the player who recovered Tyler Matakevich’s blocked punt against the Cleveland Browns in Week 1, giving the team their first touchdown of the 2017 regular season.
The former Miami defensive lineman turned linebacker has made tremendous strides at the NFL level, and is a great role player for the black-and-gold. Chickillo can play both right and left outside linebacker and is tremendous on special teams. All the more reason why the team wanted to keep him around for another season.
Chickillo was a Restricted Free Agent (RFA), and per OverTheCap.com the team has placed an original tender on Chickillo.
“The Steelers placed a low tender on restricted free agent Anthony Chickillo. The one year tender is worth $1.907 million. Chickillo is free to negotiate with other teams during free agency, but the Steelers have the option to match the offer. If the Steelers decline to match they receive a 6th round draft pick as compensation”
If Chickillo stays in Pittsburgh, he will earn just shy of $2 million dollars for his services. Now the team waits to see if anyone else tries to sign Chickillo for their own team. Until then, it is worth noting this is the lowest tender a team can place on a RFA, and the Steelers are hoping to retain Chickillo’s services on the cheap.
Stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and information on the Steelers free agent moves, their departures and potential rumors.