5 things to know about new 49ers punter Corliss Waitman

SANTA CLARA – The 49ers recalibrated their special-teams unit Saturday by agreeing to terms with veteran punter Corliss Waitman, a 30-year-old left-footer whose winding path to San Francisco spans three continents and nearly as many NFL stops. Thomas Morstead, who handled the job in 2023, signaled his departure on social media earlier in the day, clearing the way for Waitman to become the club’s ninth punter since 2020. Here are five key notes on the journeyman who appears poised to anchor the 49ers’ kicking game this fall.

1. A well-traveled résumé Waitman’s arrival marks his ninth NFL stint across six organizations since entering the league as an undrafted free agent out of South Alabama in 2020. After initial practice-squad time with the Steelers, he logged preseason looks with Las Vegas and New England before making his regular-season debut in Pittsburgh filling in for Pressley Harvin on bereavement leave. A 2022 third-round selection in the CFL Draft did not lure him north; instead he remained stateside and punted a league-high 96 times for Denver that season, averaging 46.6 yards per boot.

2. Consistent leg strength Career numbers underscore the Belgium-born specialist’s reliability: 52 career punts with a 46.4-yard gross and a 41.7-yard net, 36.5 percent downed inside the 20, zero blocks, and only 15 touchbacks. He followed his busy 2022 campaign by averaging 46.4 yards on 65 punts for Pittsburgh in 2024 and 45.5 yards on 62 punts in 2025.

3. South Alabama roots At South Alabama, Waitman recorded a 42.7-yard average on 158 career punts, good enough to attract NFL attention despite going undrafted. His college production laid the groundwork for the positional versatility that has kept him employed on both practice squads and active rosters.

4. Left-footed advantage San Francisco now employs one of the league’s few left-footed punters. Waitman believes the uncommon spin can unsettle returners. “It just knuckles sometimes in the air,” he told Broncos.com in 2022. “Sometimes they muff it here and there. It’s definitely an advantage.”

5. Global ambassador Born in Belgium, raised in the Netherlands, and a product of Milton, Florida, Waitman honors his mother’s Surinamese heritage by wearing the South American nation’s flag on his NFL helmet. He speaks Dutch, lived amid Amsterdam’s multicultural backdrop, and views his platform as a chance to spotlight a country he says “a lot of people have never heard of.”

Waitman’s father, former South Alabama basketball player Jose Waitman, pushed him athletically until Jose’s death from a stroke just before Corliss turned 18. The loss hardened the teen’s resolve, helping him transition from European soccer fields to American football and, ultimately, to the NFL. Now settled in Northern California, Waitman brings both a seasoned leg and a worldly perspective to a 49ers team looking for stability in the punting game.