The Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to activate wide receiver Martavis Bryant back to their 53 man roster at some point on Tuesday and at that point a corresponding move will need to be made. We’ve already looked at the several candidates who could ultimately be released or waived to make room for Bryant and one of them is rookie outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo.
Chickillo was surprisingly promoted to the Steelers 53 man roster the day before the team played host to the Baltimore Ravens and this past Tuesday during his weekly press conference, head coach Mike Tomlin was asked if that move was made as a result of another team wanting to sign the Miami product away.
“Just a little bit of housekeeping on our part,” said Tomlin.
We might never know for sure whether or not Chickillo was indeed being pursued by another team, but signs certainly do point to that being the case and especially since he was one of the seven inactive players against the Ravens. Chickillo is expected to be inactive once again Monday night against the San Diego Chargers as well.
With it looking like the Arizona Cardinals might very well be without the services of outside linebacker Alex Okafor for an extended amount of time due to an injury that he suffered on Sunday, they might need to look to the streets or waiver wire for depth at the position. In other words, should the Steelers waive Chickillo on Tuesday, it probably wouldn’t be surprising to see Pittsburgh West claim him.
What’s interesting is that the Cardinals used Josh Mauro as both a defensive end and an outside linebacker on Sunday. He’s also reportedly lined up at five different defensive line positions so far this season and head coach Bruce Arians really seems to like the Stanford product, who was originally signed by the Steelers in 2014 as an undrafted free agent.
“He is so versatile, but for him to play that six-technique in our nickel defense, he’s an excellent run defender,” said Arians a few weeks ago, referring to Mauro lining up on the outside of the tackles “He got his hand up and batted a ball down. He’s smart. He gives you a lot of flexibility.”
The Cardinals signed Mauro off of the Steelers practice squad last November.
Judging by what we do and don’t know at this point, I’m willing to bet that Chickillo won’t be the player waived on Tuesday to make room for Bryant. We’ll see.
