Tag: Cameron Johnston

Former Ohio State punter Cameron Johnston signs with the Pittsburgh Steelers

Another Buckeye on the move. #GoBucks

The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed former Ohio State punter Cameron Johnston.

Originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 2018 by the Philadelphia Eagles, Johnston spent three years in the City of Brotherly Love. After that, he landed in Houston with the Texans where he would have his most productive years. Johnston led the league in total punt yards in 2021 and then in 2022 had a career-best of 48.1 yards per punt while landing 37 punts inside the 20-yard line, also a career-high.

Before his NFL career began, the Australian-born punter spent his collegiate days in Scarlet and Gray from 2013-2016. He was part of the 2014 national championship team and was first-team All-Big Ten in 2016.

Johnston heads to the Steel City averaging 47.3 yards per punt which ranks third among active NFL punters.

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Steelers agree to deal with former Texans P Cameron Johnston

The Houston Texans will need to find a new punter after not re-signing Cameron Johnston.

The Houston Texans won’t bring back punter Cameron Johnston in 2024. He agreed to a new contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson.

 

Johnston, 32, has been the Texans’ punter since 2018. This past season he finished with 47.7 yards per punt and 30 punts inside the 20-yard line. Those numbers ranked 14th and seventh among his peers in 2023.

With Johnston gone, the Texans will need to find a new punter for Frank Ross’ top-rated group from a year ago. If Houston wants to sign someone in free agency, the best available punters are Rigoberto Sanchez, Tommy Townsend or Corey Bojorquez.

Steelers 2024 free agency: P Cameron Johnston agrees to terms

After striking a deal with Russell Wilson Sunday night, grabbing a punter is underwhelming, but something that needed to happen. 

When the Pittsburgh Steelers released Pressley Harvin III last month, a void remained at a significant position that we all hoped they wouldn’t use a draft pick on. It appears now that they won’t have to after agreeing to terms with former Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles punter Cameron Johnston.

After striking a deal with quarterback Russell Wilson Sunday night, grabbing a punter is underwhelming, but something that needed to happen.

Johnston, 32, was the NFL punting leader in 2021. Last season, he averaged 47.7 yards to Harvin’s 43.8 per punt. He landed 45.5% of his punts inside the 20-yard line with three touchbacks (Harvin: 38.5%, six touchbacks).

For his career, Johnston landed 182 punts inside the 20-yard line, 40.9% inside the 20 and a punt-yard average of 21,019.

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Special teams coordinator Frank Ross on punter Cameron Johnston: ‘Expect him to continue to get better’

The sixth-year punter has shown improvement in 2022 that Ross believes could be a key factor in his unit’s success moving forward

Punting might not be the most glamorous part of an NFL football game, but given the Houston Texans’ offensive struggles in 2022, it may be the most crucial aspect of their special teams play. Sixth-year punter Cameron Johnston has been one of the more outstanding players at his position across the league this season, and Texans special teams coordinator Frank Ross certainly seems to have taken notice.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Ross made it clear that he has high hopes for Johnston’s development and expects him to continue improving over the course of Houston’s last nine games. While Johnston may not be a finished product yet, Ross was bullish on his ability to help the special teams unit remain one of the Texans’ strengths heading into their arduous rebuild in 2023.

“We’ve got to be able to match coverage, of course,” Ross explained, “but there’s going to be a time when we’re backed up and maybe it’s going to be a go-ahead, or we have a tight lead in a game and have a go-ahead drive that they’re going to attempt, our defense needs to stand up. At that point, we need to give the longest field possible.

“So, you’re really letting him rip it and get after it hopefully in those instances. You’ve got to have the leg talent to do that, and then you’ve got to hit a good ball. Cam has been working hard. Expect him to continue to get better as we go here into the second half of the season. Just be consistent and use his tools to the best of his ability on each rep.”

Fans may not love the idea of the Texans’ punter taking center stage as one of the team’s rising stars, but if it yields Houston a strategic advantage, few will complain when they start seeing wins piling up. Punters have gotten the short end of the stick regarding hype and adulation for years in the NFL, but if you believe what Ross said in his comments on Thursday, Johnston may be able to shake the trend and become a well-known commodity for the Texans for years to come.

Former Eagles punter Cameron Johnston agrees to a 3-year, $8 million deal with the Texans

Former Eagles punter Cameron Johnston agrees to a 3-year, $8 million deal with Texans

The Arryn Sippos era is upon us, as Aaron Wilson is reporting that Cameron Johnston has signed a three-year deal with the Houston Texans.

According to Mike Kaye of NJ.com, the deal includes a $1 million signing bonus and $3 million in guaranteed money.

The Eagles decided not to tender Johnston after the worst season of his career, as the punter logged a 46.7 yards per punt average, with a career-low 41.2 net-yard average.

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Eagles restructured contract of CB Darius Slay

Philadelphia Eagles restructured the contract of CB Darius Slay

The Eagles are working to create salary-cap space and star cornerback Darius Slay is the next man up according to Ian Rapoport.

Slay has his contract restructured to help save the Eagles almost $9 million.

Slay left the Lions because he wanted to play for a winner and he’s now 30-years old, with a big contract and Super Bowl aspirations, but he’ll apparently be around for the rebuild.

Slay was good in 2020 and would have carried a cap hit of $15.75 million in 2021.

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Cameron Johnston to be an unrestricted free agent after Eagles elect not to tender veteran punter

Cameron Johnston to be an unrestricted free agent after Eagles elect not to tender veteran punter

The Arryn Sippos era could be set to begin in Philadelphia, as Ian Rapoport is reporting that veteran punter Cameron Johnston is set to become an unrestricted free agent.

Per Rapoport, the Eagles are choosing to not tender Johnston($2.24M) because of their dire salary cap situation.

It could be a big loss if Johnston signs elsewhere.

Through his first two NFL seasons (2018-19), Johnston had produced the highest gross (47.2) and net (42.5) punting averages in Eagles team history.

In 2018, Johnston ranked third and fourth in the NFL in net and gross.

In 2020, Johnston averaged 46.7 yards per punt.

Siposs is an Australian native who played in the Australian Football League before going on to play college football for Auburn.

Siposs signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted rookie free agent last spring before losing a training camp battle with Jack Fox, who was one of the top punters in the league this season.

Johnston was set to be a restricted free agent this offseason and a tendering at $2.24 million is now a price the Eagles are choosing to pass on.

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Philadelphia Eagles have free-agent punter in for a visit with Cam Johnston in concussion protocol

Philadelphia Eagles have punter Matt Wile in for a visit as punter Cameron Johnston, is in the concussion protocol

The Eagles injury woes have reached the special teams, as their talented punter, Cameron Johnston, is in the concussion protocol after suffering a head injury against the Cardinals on Sunday.

With the team in the fight for a playoff spot and field position playing a huge role in wins or losses, the Eagles had free-agent punter Matt Wile in for a visit per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.

Wile signed as an undrafted free agent with the Carolina Panthers after the 2015 NFL Draft.

Wile has spent time with the Cowboys, Falcons, Cardinals, Steelers, Vikings, and Lions.

In four years at Michigan, he had 91 punts for 3,658 yards, an average of 40.2 yards per punt. He converted 20 of 29 field-goal attempts and was successful on 33 of 33 extra-point attempts.

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Eagles punter Cameron Johnston ruled out vs. the Cardinals with a head injury

Eagles punter Cameron Johnston ruled out vs. the Cardinals with a head injury

Jake Elliott will be pulling double-duty for the Philadelphia Eagles after punter, Cameron Johnston, was ruled out with a head injury.

Elliott, the Eagles kicker will punt the rest of the game, while Zach Ertz is the Eagles emergency holder on all kicks.

Ertz just bobbled a kick that would have given the Eagles a 27-26 lead.

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Eagles Jake Elliott, Cameron Johnston land in CBS Sports ranking of the top-10 Punters and Kickers in NFL

Eagles Jake Elliott, Cameron Johnston land in CBS Sports ranking of the top-10 Punters and Kickers in NFL

The Philadelphia Eagles have one of the top special team’s units in the entire NFL and a huge part of that success stems from the consistency of kicker Jake Elliott and punter, Cameron Johnston.

Both players are entering their primes and are amongst the best in the NFL at what they do. The duo was recently listed in rankings from CBS Sports, listing the top-10 punters and kickers in the NFL.

Elliott landed at No. 10 on the list of kickers, while Johnston landed at No. 8 on the list of punters.

10. Jake Elliott, Eagles
Elliott has only been in the NFL for three years, but he’s already made a name for himself in Philadelphia. Elliott basically became a legend in the city during his rookie year when he beat the Giants with a 61-yard walk-off field goal in Week 3.

Elliott then capped off his rookie year in 2017 with a 3-for-3 showing in Philly’s 41-33 win over the Patriots Super Bowl LII. Of course, being a kicker in the NFL is all about what you’ve done lately, and Elliott has done plenty. During the 2019 season, the Eagles kicker started the year by making 14 straight field goals, which set a franchise record. Although Elliott did hit a lull late in the season when he missed four field goals over a four-week span (Weeks 13 thru 16), the 25-year-old bounced back nicely in the playoffs. During the Eagles’ 17-9 wild-card loss to Seattle, Elliott scored all of Philly’s points with three field goals. Elliott’s field goal and extra point conversion rate have improved every year that he’s been in the league, so the thinking here is that he’s only going to get better from here on out.

8. Cameron Johnston, Eagles
Last year, Michael Dickson was the top-ranked Australian punter on our top 10 list, but this year, that honor belongs to Johnston, who’s going into his third season with the Eagles. During the 2019 season, Johnston ranked in the top 10 in both yards per punt (46.4) and net yards per punt (42.3), and if you look at the past two years combined, Johnston looks even better. Since the start of the 2018 season, the 28-year-old is third in the NFL in yard per punt (47.2) and fifth in the NFL in net yards per punt (42.5).

Johnston is also good at drop-kicking the ball, which didn’t really help his rank on this list, but it is fun to watch him do it.

He’ll like be in Philly for at least two more seasons since he’ll be a restricted free agent in March 2021, and it won’t be surprising at all if the Eagles end up giving him a long-term deal.

A restricted free agent next offseason, Johnston could be in-line for a long term deal, while Elliott just got rewarded with a new contract and should only get better.

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