Are the Steelers willing to let trade offers decide their punter battle?
The Steelers have two NFL-quality punters, Cameron Johnston and Corliss Waitman, and are inevitably hoping to trade one. They won’t carry both on the 53-man roster into the season, and a practice squad slot is unlikely. With rare exceptions, specialists are just positions in which you don’t carry backups.
So when you have two good punters, as the Steelers do, the obvious solution is to trade one. The question is, which one? But the answer may be just as obvious: the one that someone is willing to trade for. If you have a marginal preference for Cameron Johnston but a team is willing to trade for him, why not?
Many years ago, the Steelers had two punters they liked, but the Giants wanted to trade for Brad Wing. They kept Jordan Berry, but what if the Giants wanted to trade for Berry? Would they have turned it down and just waived Wing?
This isn’t like the Ravens when they randomly had a good offseason from Kaare Vedvik when they had Justin Tucker in his prime, and the Vikings, hilariously, traded a fifth-round pick for him, only to release him weeks later because Dan Bailey was better. The Steelers already know that both Johnston and Waitman can punt in the NFL, meaning they can trade the other one.
While Waitman set team records last year, he still ranked in the middle of the pack around the league. In his defense, however, he had to join the team mid-season. This year, he has had a full offseason working with the Steelers’ special teams unit and preparing in their system. It’s reasonable to assume that whoever punts this season should have the best year of punting in Steelers history. And if the Steelers could get a record-setting punter and a draft pick out of a trade, how do you turn down a proposal, no matter who it’s for?
The Steelers are rebuilding, or reloading, whatever they feel the need to call it, after another disappointment last season. Though they limped into the playoffs, they once again embarrassed themselves therein.
Just like last year, the biggest question hanging over the Steelers is the quarterback question. While they made a lot of moves, they have to put the pieces together. The 2025 NFL Draft class could play a big role, but veteran additions will be paramount.
Now we are heading into the regular season. From Aaron Rodgers to George Pickens to Minkah Fitzpatrick and Jalen Ramsey, we’ve seen the Steelers make some big changes. Now it’s about evaluating the roster in place and filling holes as we go.
