Steelers trade Wing to Giants for draft pick

PITTSBURGH – For the sixth time in head coach Mike Tomlin’s nine years as coach, the Steelers will open the season with a new punter.
The team assured that Friday when it traded incumbent punter Brad Wing to the New York Giants for a conditional seventh-round draft pick.
That means the Steelers will go with first-year punter Jordan Berry.
Tomlin said Thursday night following the Steelers’ 23-6 loss to Carolina in their preseason finale that making a decision between Wing and Berry would be a difficult one.
“It’s not a tough decision because they have performed marginally, it’s tough because both guys kicked well,” Tomlin said.
Well enough that the Steelers found a team willing to give up a draft pick to acquire him and release veteran punter Steve Weatherford.
“It’s not something that’s done lightly,” Giants head coach Tom Coughlin told reporters. “There have been evaluations that have gone on from the first day of training camp. The results are what we decided needed to be done at this time.”
Wing and Berry were neck and neck throughout the offseason and training camp as Tomlin attempted to put pressure on Wing after he finished 29th in the NFL with a 43.7 yards per kick average in his first NFL season.
It worked, as Wing averaged 48.8 yards per kick in the preseason, just behind Berry’s average of 49.8. Either average would have easily led the NFL last season, though Berry knows kicking at Heinz Field when the weather begins to cool will be no easy task.
“I guess it’s not the most ideal conditions for kicking or punting in,” said Berry, who like Wing, is a native of Australia.
It can’t be much more difficult than Berry’s morning.
He didn’t know whether he would be kept or if he would be headed back to Australia.
“Brad came through and congratulated me and let me know he was traded and headed off,” said Berry.
Berry went unsigned after averaging 43.4 yards per punt in his final season at Eastern Kentucky, where he was a three-time all-conference honoree.
After spending the 2014 season in Australia – he worked at a fast food restaurant – he returned to the United States hoping to get a shot at the NFL. The Steelers signed him in April to compete with Wing.
“I didn’t know if I was going to get a tryout, let alone make a team,” said Berry.
Now, he’ll join Daniel Sepulveda, Mitch Berger, Drew Butler, Zoltan Mesko and Wing as players who opened a season as the Steelers’ punter under Tomlin. Because of injuries or ineffectiveness, Tomlin has used 10 punters in his tenure.
Beating out Wing was a bittersweet moment for Berry.
“Being together for four or five months and spending every day with each other you do get that bit of a work relationship going,” said Berry. “Plus he is a pretty good bloke, so he was great to hang out with.
“He will get to go play somewhere week one. You don’t want to have to see someone do something like that, but I am happy I won the job.”
While the Steelers didn’t officially release their cuts, some players have been notified they will be released. According to ESPN, they include wide receivers Shakim Phillips and Jarrod West, linebackers Howard Jones and L.J. Fort, cornerbacks Kevin Fogg and B.W. Webb and defensive linemen Mike Thornton and Ethan Hemer. … Teams must trim rosters to 53 by 4 p.m. today. Players who are released must clear waivers before they can be added to the practice squad Sunday.