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With punter Pressley Harvin III and kicker Chris Boswell coming off less-than-stellar seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking for specialists who can potentially provide competition in 2023. On January 18, the team held tryouts for two punters and two placekickers, this according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network and the NFL’s daily personnel notice.
Joseph Charlton Served as Carolina’s Punter in 2020
The punters in question are former Carolina Panthers punter Joseph Charlton and former Wake Forest punter Dom Maggio.
The former entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2020 after a college career at South Carolina in which he averaged a school record 45.5 yards per punt.
As a rookie, Charlton won Carolina’s punting job and averaged 46.3 yards per boot over the course of 45 kicks, with only three touchbacks and 21 kicks inside the 20. His most notable game came in Week 16, when he was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after landing all five of his punts inside the 20 during a Panthers victory at Washington.
In 2021 Charlton struggled through five games for the Panthers before landing on injured reserve with a back injury. But after getting waived he caught on with the Jacksonville Jaguars, for whom he appeared in one game. In 2022 he signed a reserve/futures contract with the Browns but was waived during the preseason.
As for Maggio, he signed with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent following the 2020 draft but was waived in August of that year, unable to unseat Ravens legend Sam Koch.
Maggio went on to sign with the Atlanta Falcons in March 2021 and spent time on Atlanta’s practice squad later that year. His father, Kirk Maggio, was an All-American punter at UCLA and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 12th round of the 1990 NFL Draft (No. 325 overall).
Chris Naggar Has Kicked for the Browns
Meanwhile, the first of the two kickers who worked out for the Steelers was Chris Naggar, who entered the NFL in 2021, joining the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent out of SMU. Naggar was waived by the Jets in training camp and started his rookie season on Cleveland’s practice squad. He appeared in one regular season game for the Browns, making 1 of 2 extra points and his only field goal attempt — a 37-yarder. In 2022, he spent time with the Dallas Cowboys but was waived in May.
Naggar — who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 193 pounds — started his college career at Texas but transferred to SMU and kicked for the Mustangs in 2020, converting 17 of 21 field goal attempts that year.
The other placekicker in question is Gabe Brkic (pronounced BUR-kitch), who signed with the Minnesota Vikings as a rookie undrafted free agent in May 2022 following four seasons with the Oklahoma Sooners. While at Oklahoma, Brkic made 57 of 69 field goal attempts (82.6%) and 159 of 160 PAT attempts (99.4%).
But Brkic is said to have “struggled” in spring practices and was waived by the Vikings in June 2022 following the team’s minicamp.
Chris Boswell Signed a 4-Year Contract Extension in 2022
As for Harvin and Boswell, the former was 28th in the league in 2022 in terms of yards per punt (44.5) and struggled with his consistency, much like he did as a rookie. Meanwhile, Boswell made just 71.4% of his field goal attempts last year, the second lowest percentage of his career, according to Pro Football Reference. He also missed five games due to injury (groin), with Nick Sciba and Matthew Wright filling the void in his absence.
Obviously, those numbers aren’t good enough, considering that Boswell signed a four-year, $20 million contract extension in August 2022.
Per overthecap.com, Boswell is scheduled to earn a salary of $2.74 million in 2023, while counting $5.64 million against the cap. If he’s released before June 1, 2023, the move would trigger a dead money cap charge of $6.4 million.
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