The NFL team revealed this signing after punter Cameron Johnston suffered a season-ending knee injury. With Johnston hurt, Pittsburgh’s season-opening 18-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons required kicker Chris Boswell to make the Steelers’ final punt.
Corliss Waitman became available after the Chicago Bears cut him when they trimmed their preseason roster to the regular-season restriction on August 28.
Waitman contended with fourth-round rookie Tory Taylor for the Chicago job, but he was released after averaging 44.6 yards on nine preseason punts.
Waitman joined with Pittsburgh as an undrafted rookie in 2020 following four seasons as a punter at South Alabama.
Waitman spent the 2020 season with the Steelers’ practice squad.
Waitman was signed from the New England Patriots’ practice squad in 2021 when punter Pressley Harvin III was injured, and he handled the Steelers’ punting for the remaining two games of the season.
In 2022, Waitman led the NFL with 96 punts for the Denver Broncos. After averaging 52.1 yards on seven punts in Pittsburgh’s final two games of the 2021 season, Waitman averaged 46.6 yards per punt for Denver in 2022.
Waitman became the first South Alabama alumnus to receive an NFL Player of the Week award when he was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 3 of the 2022 season.
After signing with the Patriots for the 2023 season, Waitman spent the most of the season on the practice squad, never playing a game.
The Steelers face the Broncos at 3:25 p.m. CDT on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.
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