While nothing has been officially announced yet—at least as of the time of this writing—it has been reported that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ intention is to move on from two-thirds of their core specialists who have been together for the past five seasons.
Both kicker Chris Boswell and punter Jordan Berry first came to the Steelers as first-year players in 2015, the former being a midseason signing following a chain of injuries and struggles that led them from Shaun Suisham to Josh Scobee, who struggled enough to be released after four games.
Kameron Canaday came a year later, defeating rookie sixth-round pick Colin Holba in a training camp battle to replace the longtime veteran, Greg Warren. But entering the 2021 season, both Berry and Canaday will be back looking for work, as Boswell seems to have confirmed.
The former Pro Bowl kicker took to Instagram last night to express love for his specialist brothers, posting a simple message of “My guys!!” with black and gold hearts, on a picture of the trio running out of the tunnel at Heinz Field.
Something they won’t get to experience again, most likely, as the Steelers move on with rookie punter Pressley Harvin III, their seventh-round draft pick, and long snapper Christian Kuntz, who has spent portions of the past two seasons or offseasons with the team.
While Berry was the more consistent performer during the preseason, Harvin offers more upside as a big-legged punter who does have the capability of performing assignment, whether it’s directional punting, hangtime, or simply flipping the field…with the small caveat that he must do it more consistently.
Kuntz comes from a dual-positional background as a college outside linebacker who also played there (as well as at long snapper) for the Steelers in training camp in 2019, and then for the XFL in 2020. He spent time on the practice squad as an extra long snapper last year due to COVID-19 concerns.
When he was brought back this year, he was used exclusively as a specialist, receiving no time on defense, even wearing the white jersey that is typical of offensive players and specialists (he wore a yellow defensive jersey in 2019).
It will mark by far the most significant change of Boswell’s career, having had the opportunity to experience personnel consistency for the past five years of his six-year career, but he has expressed confidence in his ability to kick with the new group. Even if his lone miss during the preseason came with Kuntz and Harvin.
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