The Pittsburgh Steelers are back in the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex earlier than they had anticipated, having been ousted from the postseason in the opening round, which unfortunately marks the fifth consecutive season in which they failed to win a postseason game—a new record for the franchise since the merger. Yet again, they find themselves undergoing the exit meeting process earlier than anticipated, which means so are we.
The Steelers did arguably perform at or above expectations this year by going 9-7-1 and making the postseason at all, a reflection of just how much talent they lost during the offseason, from the majority of the offensive line to Mike Hilton, Bud Dupree, Steven Nelson, and Vince Williams—not to mention Stephon Tuitt, essentially.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between head coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2021 season.
Player: Corliss Waitman
Position: P
Experience: 0 Years
How can a player have zero years of accrued or credited experience? Easy. Just don’t be on a 53-man roster long enough. Corliss Waitman was only on the Steelers’ 53-man roster for the final few games of the 2021 season, not enough for him to qualify for a year served.
But he may have a chance at a starting job with the Denver Broncos in 2022, who claimed him off waivers after the Steelers let him go at the end of the year, opting to stick with their beleaguered rookie, Pressley Harvin III, who was battling personal tragedy off the field during the year, and lost his father on Christmas Day after an extended battle with illness.
Waitman was originally signed by the Steelers as a rookie college free agent in 2020. He spent the entirety of that season on the practice squad. He was brought back this past season, but eventually let go as Harvin battled incumbent Jordan Berry. When the team needed a punter, they had to sign Waitman off the New England Patriots’ practice squad.
After Harvin’s father passed away, the Steelers had a game to play the next day. They immediately signed Waitman and he hopped on a plane to fly out to Kansas City, punting the following day. He only played in two games, but he posted a net average of 42.6 yards with a gross average of 52.1 yards.
Waitman punted seven times over the course of those two games. Five of them were returnable, for a total of 47 yards, partly because of the distance that he got on his punts, his long being 63 yards.
At the end of the day—or the season, rather—it was enough to get the Broncos interested. At least as of now, he remains on their offseason roster. Their other punter on the roster is 10-year veteran Sam Martin, who has been with them for the past two seasons and punted for a net average of 42.8 yards in 2021. In other words, he’s got his work cut out for him, and could be made available again this September, if not sooner.
