Player: P Cameron Johnston
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Who doesn’t love punter news? After all, the Steelers spent good money on Cameron Johnston last year, so we might as well talk about him. A top-five punter in the league, he didn’t make it through a game last season. But the good news is he is well on his way to recovery and is already back to punting. And he should be, at least, in “pole position” to retain his job in 2025.
The Steelers had been on a punter carousel for years and years and resolved to finally address it in 2024. They spent “big” in free agency, at least as far as punters go, headhunting for Cameron Johnston. Boasting a career 42.2-yard net average, he signed a three-year, $9 million deal with Pittsburgh.
Unfortunately, he didn’t escape the Steelers’ first game unscathed. On his second punt of the day, he suffered a knee injury, tearing his ACL and ending his season almost as soon as it began. The good news for the Steelers is the fact that they were able to sign Corliss Waitman, who filled in admirably.
On top of that, Johnston seems to be making good progress, seemingly on pace to play in 2024. Obviously, he will be roughly a year removed from the injury once the 2025 regular season begins. And it’s no surprise that a punter can return from such an injury within a reasonable window.
Injuries never offer any guarantees, though, as the Steelers have found out in the past. During a Hall of Fame game, Shaun Suisham suffered a career-ending injury on a garbage field. Fortunately, Cameron Johnston’s injury doesn’t appear to be anywhere near as complicated.
The only question is what the Steelers’ plans are and if those plans involve competition. Waitman has established himself as a legitimate NFL punter at this point, but Johnston is historically better. Waitman posted a Steelers-record 41.4-yard net average last year—but that is merely average. In other words, Johnston should be able to beat out Waitman, but the Steelers could do worse.
With the new league year underway and the Steelers turning their roster over, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of that change the team talked about after the season ended. Certainly, the move to trade for WR DK Metcalf qualifies as a change, not to mention the accompanying contract.
There is still a long way to go before we know what this Steelers team is going to look like. Once the dust settles on free agency, we turn our attention to the draft, and so on. What other moves might the team make, perhaps unexpected acquisitions or departures? If they traded for one player, they could certainly trade for another or trade one away. This is a Steelers team starving for postseason success, but how desperate are they for a playoff win in 2025?
