The Buffalo Bills have released former Pittsburgh Steelers punter Cameron Johnston from injured reserve. He suffered a lower leg injury earlier this season that forced him to go on IR, and now will exit the organization.
The Steelers cut Johnston after he lost the punting battle for Corliss Waitman this training camp, who has performed well so far.
Waitman took over for Johnston in 2024 after the Australian punter suffered a serious season-ending knee injury in the team’s opening game against the Atlanta Falcons.
The key separator for the Steelers between Waitman and Johnston was a few factors. For one, Waitman helped lead Chris Boswell to an All-Pro season as a kicker while being Boswell’s holder. That operation will now stay intact.
Second, Waitman had much better hang time stats than Johnston did in the preseason. Overall, Waitman had 4.88 seconds of hang time, the best mark among punters in the preseason, while Johnston had 4.20 seconds of hang time per punt, 30th in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus.
Lastly, Waitman is a left-footed punter, which has a different spin on the football, often causing returners to struggle with handling those punts, and that can lead to muffs.
Either way, Johnson punted well enough to get another opportunity, but this injury is a serious setback for a talented player.
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