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Steelers 2-a-days: Anthony Chickillo earns contract extension, James Conner proves he’s worthy | TribLIVE.com
Steelers/NFL

Steelers 2-a-days: Anthony Chickillo earns contract extension, James Conner proves he’s worthy

Chris Adamski
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Pittsburgh Steelers running back James Conner (30) goes through ball retention drills during an NFL football practice, Thursday, May 23, 2019, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, the Trib will be running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, assessing each player’s outlook for the 2019 season. The breakdown will go through the roster in mostly-alphabetical order, (at least) two per day, between June 14 and July 26.

OLB ANTHONY CHICKILLO

Experience: 5th season

Contract status: $1.9 million cap hit in 2019 as part of two-year extension signed in March

2019 outlook: Although Chickillo signed a two-year deal while on the cusp of free agency early this spring, the structure of the deal makes it more like a one-year, $1.9 million deal to be the top backup outside linebacker. Next season, Chickillo is scheduled to make $5 million, and if he’s cut it’s a manageable $1.1 million dead-money hit. What makes that interesting is that Bud Dupree is in the final season of his contract, so in theory that’s why the contract looks like this (Chickillo could step in as a starter in 2020). Chickillo is playing for that $5 million payday, and he figures to continue to get his opportunities to show what he can do. Can he hold off the likes of Ola Adeniyi? Can he compel the Steelers to ignore edge rusher in the 2020 draft?

RB JAMES CONNER

Experience: 3rd season

Contract status: $844,572 cap hit in 2019, signed through 2020

2019 outlook: As he has done throughout his entire football career, Conner continued to impress and prove people wrong in 2018. He prematurely inherited the featured running back gig when Le’Veon Bell didn’t show up – and Conner did his best Bell impersonation by arguably being more productive than Bell was the prior year. A nitpick? Another injury, a possibly harbinger of the Steelers lack of complete comfort with committing to Conner over the longerm. But if Conner can have another highly-productive season and stay healthy, he would be in line for a well-earned contract extension by this time next year.

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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.

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Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL
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