The Pittsburgh Steelers made a bit of a surprising decision Monday afternoon. They released veteran Cameron Johnston, handing the punting position for the 2025 season to Corliss Waitman, who won the battle throughout training camp and the preseason.

However, the Steelers could have gone in a different direction thanks to a call from the New Orleans Saints.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Saints made a trade inquiry to the Steelers about Waitman. But the Steelers decided to keep him, handing him the punting job and releasing Johnston in the process.

Corliss Waitman has won the Steelers punter job, and he had interest elsewhere. The Saints inquired about trading for him before the Steelers made the final decision to stick with him.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 26, 2025

Waitman signed with the Steelers ahead of Week 2 last season after Johnston suffered a serious knee injury in the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons. He punted just twice for the Steelers last season after signing a three-year, $9 million deal in free agency.

Coming in off the street, Waitman did a great job for the Steelers, not only as a punter but as a holder for kicker Chris Boswell, too. With Waitman holding, Boswell went on to lead the league in scoring, becoming the first Steelers player to achieve that feat.

Solid as a holder, Waitman also had a strong year punting the ball. Waitman punted 65 times and averaged 41.9 net yards, setting a franchise record for net yards per punt in the process.

With that strong season on his resume, Waitman came into the summer with a chance to unseat Johnston. He took the opportunity and ran with it, putting up some impressive numbers in the preseason. He punted five times in three preseason games and averaged 53.2 yards, averaging more than 10 yards more per punt than Johnston did in the preseason on six punts.

It makes sense that a team like New Orleans inquired about Waitman, considering the Saints have rookie undrafted free agent Kai Kroeger as their lone punter on the roster. Kroeger punted six times in the preseason and averaged just 46.0 yards, raising some questions at the position for first-year head coach Kellen Moore.

The inquiry went nowhere though as the Steelers ultimately decided to hold onto Waitman and hand him the punting job in the Steel City.