Punter competitions are probably the second least-exciting position battles when it comes to football rosters, the one that's the absolute least would have to be long-snapping battles.
That said, the San Francisco 49ers engineered a transaction today that ended their apparent punter competition in training camp—one between the veteran, Corliss Waitman, and the undrafted rookie out of Australia, Jack Bouwmeester.
Bouwmeester, who played his college ball at Utah, couldn't even officially join the squad until much later in the summer, due to a visa complication. But, when that finally settled, the rookie seemed poised to steal a job from the Niners' offseason free-agent pickup.
Except it's not to be.
49ers waive Jack Bouwmeester, Corliss Waitman wins punting job
The day before San Francisco kicked off its 2026 preseason campaign against the Tennessee Titans, a serious of transactions went through to both add depth at positions of need and to cut bait with some excess.
Ultimately, Bouwmeester was determined to be an excess commodity:
The 49ers today waived 2025 draft pick Junior Bergen. Also, the punter competition is over. SF waived P Jack Bouwmeester, meaning the job belongs to Corliss Waitman. They signed CB Eli Apple, DL Xavier Thomas and RB Zamir White. SF waived/injured DL K.J. Henry.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) August 12, 2026
Waitman no longer has to worry that much about his job security. At least for now.
One might have thought the 49ers would at least give the rookie a few shots during the exhibition tilt against Tennessee, perhaps seeing if that game would provide the next level of competition. Or, perhaps, the ultimate decision would've been reached once the preseason was over and rosters needed to be finalized.
Unfortunately, with the Niners dealing with a slew of camp injuries and feeling the shorthanded heat at several spots, boasting two punters was a luxury they simply couldn't afford to have.
And they may have already concluded it was going to be Waitman's job anyway, leaving Bouwmeester out of a job.
Granted, specialists typically are on short leashes, especially if they're not accompanied by hefty contracts. All it would take is an injury or for Waitman to scuffle a bit early, and then San Francisco might pick up the phone and call the Aussie-born punter back to Santa Clara as soon as possible.
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