Former Steelers’ OLB Anthony Chickillo signs with the New Orleans Saints

Former Steelers’ outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo has reportedly signed a one-year deal with the New Orleans Saints.

Chickillo was released by the Steelers prior to the start of the 2020 NFL league. The move saved the Steelers $5 million towards the salary cap.

After signing a two-year, $8 million contract prior to the 2019 season, Chickillo had a disappointing year. Between injuries and legal issues stemming from an incident at the Lady Luck Casino at Nemacolin, Chickillo only appeared in 11 games in 2019. Not only did Chickillo not play as many games, his production continued to decrease as he only registered 0.5 sacks and 19 tackles wall playing 143 defensive snaps as the primary reserve outside linebacker.

Details of Chickillo’s contract with the Saints are not available at this time.

Although he was a salary cap casualty, it was never believed Chickillo was a candidate to return to the Steelers later in the offseason. With Pittsburgh dedicating their second selection of the 2020 NFL draft to Alex Highsmith with the 102nd overall pick in the third round, the Steelers appear to be satisfied with their reserve role at outside linebacker. Other players on the Steelers at the position include Olasunkanmi Adeniyi and Tuzar Skipper who were both with the team in 2019. Adeniyi played 62 defensive snaps for the Steelers in 2019 while Skipper did not see the field for Pittsburgh but logged playing time in his brief stint with the New York Giants.

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