The Pittsburgh Steelers have reportedly come to terms with Houston Texans free agent punter, Cameron Johnston. Johnston comes with a connection to the Steelers as he was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Philadelphia Eagles when Assistant General Manager Andy Weidl was there. Pittsburgh continues to add players with the Philadelphia connection after adding several last offseason.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers’ dynamic duo of Omar Khan and Andy Weidl will look to duplicate the success of the 2023 draft class in 2024.
Johnston has spent the past three seasons in Houston where he averaged 46.7, 48.1, and 47.7 yards per punt. Recently released punter Pressley Harvin averaged 43.8 yards per punt in 2023. The Ohio State product had 30 punts inside the 20 last year with just three touchbacks. His long was a 74-yard punt last season. Johnston has a career average of 47.3 yards per punt. No punter in Steelers history has ever met or eclipsed that number. 47.0 was previously the highest within the organization, set by Bobby Joe Green in 1961. Johnston has only had one punt blocked in his career, and has 182 punts downed inside of the 20.
KPRC 2 Houston reporter Aaron Wilson broke the news on X.
#Steelers agree to terms with punter Cameron Johnston, per a league source @KPRC2
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 11, 2024
Johnston, 32, is an Austrian born American and played Australian rules football as a member of the Melbourne Football Club in 2011 before starting his journey to the NFL. In 2013, he earned a scholarship at Ohio State University where he would end up leading the Big Ten in punting as a freshman. He'd go on to punt for Ohio State's 2014 National Title team while winning the Eddleman-Fields Big Ten Punter of the Year Award.
Steelers Have Had Major Punting Struggles
The Steelers wasted a 2021 seventh-round draft pick on Harvin, and he struggled with inconsistencies throughout his young career. Ater a tough stretch at the end of 2023, the organization finally decided to part ways with him. Punting has been an area that has plagued the team for years, despite trying several different punters over several different seasons.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter / X: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Former Pittsburgh Steelers punter, Pressley Harvin III (6).
Last offseason, the team brought in Braden Mann to compete with Harvin, but he ultimately lost the competition for the job entering the season. Mann went on to have a much better season finishing seventh in the NFL with a punting average of 49.8.
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