Johnston, 33, was in the second year of his three-year, $9 million contract when the Steelers decided to move on from him. The Australian punter missed the entire 2024 season with a knee injury he suffered in week 1.
Johnston joined the Steelers in the 2024 offseason after spending the first seven years of his career in Philadelphia and Houston. The Steelers save $1.4 million in 2025 cash by releasing the punter, but will also carry a dead cap weight of $1.9 million.
The move makes place for Belgian punter Corliss Waitman to take on the official starting role. Waitman, who also grew up in the Netherlands, started the last 16 games of the 2024 season for the Steelers and accumulated 3,015 yards from 65 punts, scoring an average of 46.5 yards per punt.
The 30-year-old Waitman showed out in preseason by averaging a 4.84-second hangtime per punt - the highest average of all punters. In contrast, Johnston averaged a hangtime of 4.20 seconds, which ranked 30th among all punters.
According to NFL insider Adam Schefter, the New Orleans Saints were exploring a trade for Waitman, who the Steelers did not want to let go.
Waitman entered the NFL in 2020, when he played on the Steelers' practice squad. The Belgian punter bounced around the league's practice squads, joining the Raiders and Patriots before returning to Pittsburgh in 2021, when he made his official NFL debut in December as starting punter Pressley Harvin III was on bereavement leave.
After leaving the Steelers, Waitman returned to the Patriots' practice squad. After also being on the Bears' practice squad, Waitman returned to Pittsburgh in 2024 following Johnston's injury.