Player: P Cameron Johnston
Stock Value: Purchased
Reasoning: The Steelers have announced the signing of P Cameron Johnston, a familiar name who was a street free agent. His career derailed by a 2024 ACL injury, he now has a third shot in Pittsburgh. But he may only be here for competition—time will tell.
The Steelers signed Cameron Johnston to a three-year, $9 million contract in 2024, and he managed two punts. On the second, he suffered a torn ACL, immediately ending his season, and effectively his Steelers career. Or at least the first chapter, as it turns out.
After recovering from his ACL injury, Johnston battled for the punter job with Corliss Waitman. The Steelers chose to go with Waitman, a move I disagreed with at the time. Johnston struggled to find a home after Pittsburgh let him go, having short stints in Buffalo and New York.
With the Steelers, Waitman struggled to find his consistency, his numbers dipping slightly from the previous season. At the time the Steelers signed Cameron Johnston, he was a top punter in the NFL. His career net average is nearly a yard better than Waitman’s best season.
But Steelers LS Christian Kuntz seemed to suggest that even though they brought back Johnston, they also intend to re-sign Waitman. Waitman is currently a restricted free agent, but they will not be tendering him. He will be free to sign with anyone, then, at the start of the new league year. But I’m not sure he will have much of a market.
Could this be the second year in a row the Steelers have a punting competition between Johnston and Waitman? Is Johnston closer to his old form, another year removed from a major injury? He only punted 11 times last season with a horrible net average, but that’s on bad coverage units allowing long returns and a small sample size.
With the 2025 season behind us and the new league year underway, we still have stock to take. Already promisinga year of change, they are shaking things up. That is unavoidable, of course, when you gut the coaching staff. Mike Tomlin’s resignation will fundamentally change this football team, including the playoffs on the roster.
After a long season, we have finally seen that this Steelers team is playoff-bound. But they also showed that their progress was actually minimal,since they made it no further. Two years in a row, with two different quarterbacks, they went 10-7 and lost in the Wild Card Round. The only differences are they ended the season on a higher note and won the division. But it didn’t help.
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