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terrible take a daily segment telling stealer nation what's on our minds i'm melanie freelander

back when he was a host on NFL Network's

game day final, recapping the day's action, Dion Sanders was well known for saying, there's only one

reason we show punt returns on this show. What he meant was that something really good or really

bad happened on that play, because otherwise, punts and punt returns aren't usually worth talking

about in game recaps. The same is true for punters in general. If you don't hear a punter being

talked about much, he's probably doing his job well. And for the Steelers, Corliss Waitman,

that was true in 2024. After three years of inconsistent play from Presley Harvin III,

there was optimism when the Steelers signed

Punter Cameron Johnston in free agency. They paid a decent price, but it was a significant upgrade and a chance to have more control over field position for the defense.

Johnson was off to a great start in preseason and the regular season opener, but a serious knee injury landed him on injured reserve.

The Steelers brought in Waitman, who filled in well other than a rough day in Cleveland in November.

Then again, there were plenty of other things that went wrong for the Steelers that day.

Waitman's numbers actually match up well against Cam Johnson's stats from 2023 when he last played.

This season, Waitman had an average of 41.5 net

yards with a long of 71 yards. Johnson's net was 44 yards with a long of 74. Their hang times are

similar at 4.37 and 4.28 seconds. Waitman landed 43% of his punts inside the 20-yard line. For Johnston, it was just under 42%.

Both punters are currently under contract. Waitman signed a two-year deal for the veteran minimum,

and there's no guaranteed money. Johnston was penned to a three-year deal. With his signing bonus,

his cap hit is estimated to be just under 3.5 million

...