It doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but former Pittsburgh Steelers punter Pressley Harvin III was waived by the San Francisco 49ers, the team announced today.
Harvin signed with the 49ers on Aug. 9, but it was always going to be an uphill battle for him to make the roster with incumbent punter Mitch Wishnowsky still playing at a high level.
He got a lot of work for San Francisco in the preseason with 13 punts. He had a net average of 44.92 yards, while also booming a 61-yard punt with seven of his 13 punts landing inside the 20-yard line.
He’s an experienced punter given that he started for the Steelers over the last three seasons, playing 47 games for the team. His preseason performance could lead to interest elsewhere from punter-needy teams. His net average in the preseason was over three yards higher than his career-best 41.1 he had with the Steelers in 2022, although obviously in a much smaller sample size.
Harvin was released by the Steelers at the conclusion of the 2023 season, and the team worked quickly to find his replacement in free agency, signing P Cameron Johnston on the first day of the legal tampering period back in March.
Harvin was selected by the Steelers in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft after winning the Ray Guy Award as the best collegiate punter at Georgia Tech. He beat out Jordan Berry to win the job in Pittsburgh his rookie season and held it for three years despite inconsistent punting plaguing him throughout his Steelers career. He averaged 43.7 yards per punt during his career in Pittsburgh.
As roster cutdowns continue today and tomorrow and teams look to add or reshape parts of their rosters over the coming week, we’ll see if Harvin finds interest elsewhere to continue his NFL career.
