DEAL AGREED: Steelers Have Reached Full Agreement To Bringing Back Ex-UDFA to Replace $9 Million Free Agent Signing:

The Pittsburgh Steelers are moving quickly to fill their punter vacancy. On September 9, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero claimed that the Pittsburgh Steelers “plan to sign” former undrafted free agency punter Corliss Waitman.

“The Steelers plan to sign Corliss Waitman, per his agent Alexa Stabler, after Cameron Johnson suffered a season-ending knee injury Sunday,” said Pelissero on X (previously Twitter).

“It’s the third stint with Pittsburgh for Waitman, who originally signed there as an undrafted free agent in 2020.”

This will be Waitman’s third stint with the Steelers. However, Pittsburgh has already waived him three times. He is returning to the Steelers a day after punter Cameron Johnston sustained a severe knee injury.

In his postgame press conference, head coach Mike Tomlin described Johnston’s injury as “significant.” On September 9, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport announced that Johnston would be gone for the season.

This past offseason, the Steelers signed Johnston to a three-year, $9 million contract.

Steelers punter Cameron Johnston sustains a season-ending injury.

The Steelers did not reach the end zone against the Falcons in Week 1, and they only punted three times. Johnston performed admirably on his first two punts, averaging 51.5 yards and pinning the Falcons at the 10-yard line once.

However, on his third punt, Falcons wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge made significant contact with Johnston’s kicking leg right before it dropped on the ground.

Based on the replay of the collision, it’s not unexpected that Johnston will miss the remainder of the season.
Although punters are not considered regular starters, Johnston might be a significant loss for the Steelers. If Week 1 revealed anything about the 2024 Steelers, they intend to win games this fall through strong defence and special teams while playing mistake-free offence.

Without a dependable punter, winning with that formula becomes much more difficult.

This year marked Johnston’s seventh season in the NFL. In 96 career games, he had an average punt of 47.3 yards. More than 40% of his punts have landed inside the opposing 20-yard line.

Johnston led the NFL in punt yards in 2021 with 4,108 while playing for the Houston Texans. He played three seasons in Houston from 2021 to 2023 and punted three years for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2018 to 2020.

Corliss Waitman is set to replace Johnston

Waitman is back where his career began, seeking to provide the Steelers with a competent successor for Johnston.

After the 2020 NFL draft, the Steelers signed Waitman as an undrafted free agent. Waitman did not make the team out of training camp, but he did sign with the practice squad in November of 2020.

Waitman was cut by the Steelers in May 2021 and later played for the Las Vegas Raiders and the New England Patriots. However, Waitman returned to Pittsburgh to make his NFL regular-season debut. He punted for the Steelers in two games toward the end of the 2021 season while Pressley Harvin was on bereavement leave.

The Steelers then waived Waitman at the end of the season.

In 2022, he punted 17 times for the Denver Broncos. He led the NFL with 96 punts that season, averaging 46.6 yards per attempt. He pinned opposing teams within the 20-yard line on 30 of his punts.

Waitman spent some of the season on the Patriots’ practice squad.

The Steelers have six days to either prepare Waitman or find another solution for their punting predicament. They will visit the Broncos in Week 2 on September 15.