When veteran punter Cameron Johnston, in the first year of his three-year deal he signed in free agency with the Pittsburgh Steelers, went down in the fourth quarter of the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons, it was clear the Steelers were going to need to find a new punter — and fast.
Many expected the Steelers to turn to a familiar face. Ultimately, that’s what they did.
Just not the familiar face many expected.
The Steelers signed veteran Corliss Waitman, reuniting with the former Steelers punter. In the seven games since returning to Pittsburgh, Waitman has punted the ball well.
For special teams coordinator Danny Smith, familiarity with Waitman was a factor in the decision to sign the veteran punter to replace Johnston, but it wasn’t the only factor.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Smith stated that Waitman won the punter competition in early September against a number of other veteran punters in a team workout, leading to his role with the Steelers.
“Not that that’s a determining factor, but there’s a familiarity, and obviously in our situation with the kicker that we have, the holding is very important. I believe we can teach them to hold — we’ve done that over the time — and we’ve had some guys that have some reps against them that have been there, not good holders, and now we know how to develop a holder. And we had developed him before, and everybody was comfortable with that. So that’s how he got invited back, to be honest with you,” Smith said of Waitman, according to video via the Post-Gazette on YouTube. “He’s a real pro, and he won that competition when we had all those punters there. The punter we played the other night [Giants’ Matt Haack] was one of those guys. We had him, and he’s punting good.
“He’s punting pretty good. He’s punting better than he did in his workout, but [Corliss] won that workout with those punters, and the familiarity put us a little over the edge to go make a decision to go with him.”
As Smith referenced, Waitman found himself competing against Matt Haack, Jack Browning, Austin McNamara, Trenton Gill and Porter Wilson after Johnston went down. All those punters were brought in for a workout in early September, and Waitman was the last one standing in the end.
Of course, the familiarity that the franchise had with him played a factor in the Steelers deciding to go with him, even if that familiarity was from three seasons ago.
Waitman spent time with the Steelers in 2020 on the practice squad. During the 2021 season the Steelers re-signed Waitman after punter Pressley Harvin III went on bereavement leave.
In two games, Waitman punted seven times, averaging 52.1 yards. During the 2021 season, Waitman punted against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16 twice in a 36-10 loss, averaging 60 yards. Then, in Week 17 against the Cleveland Browns in a 26-14 win, Waitman punted five times for 244 yards, averaging 48.8 yards.
Since his first stint with the Steelers, Waitman has spent time with the Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, and Chicago Bears. Waitman was with the Bears this summer and spent training camp with Chicago before being released on Aug. 27.
Now, through seven games with the Steelers this season, Waitman has punted 29 times for 1,357 yards, averaging 46.8 yards with a net average of 41.8 yards. He has 14 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, which accounts for nearly half of his punts, and has just four touchbacks on the season.
He’s been quite the weapon for the Steelers and has been a rock as a holder for kicker Chris Boswell, who is on pace to set an NFL record for most field goals made in a season.
