Jordan Berry's offseason got a lot smoother when he signed a one-year contract extension on Thursday. Berry was slated to become a restricted free agent when the new league year begins on March 14.
"It's pretty exciting to get it all finished, get it all sorted out, and get it done early," said Berry. "I love being in Pittsburgh so I am excited to have it done. I don't have to think about it. I can just focus on training and getting ready for next season, which is the most important part of everything."
Berry is coming off a 2017 season where he averaged 43.2 yards per punt, with a net of 39.8 yards. He had 26 punts hit inside the 20-yard line.
"On my side of things it was a pretty good year," said Berry. "I improved on the open field punting, the stuff in that area. I am just looking forward to working, putting together what I learned the last few seasons, and put together another good season to help the team out."
Berry ranks third in team history with a 43.8 yard average (on a minimum of 100 punts) and fifth with 79 punts inside the 20-yard line. In addition he either holds or is tied for the top three single-season net punting averages in team history, with a team record 40.2 average in 2016, 39.8 in 2017 which ranks second, and 39.1 in 2015 which is tied for third with Daniel Sepulveda. He said working with special teams coordinator Danny Smith has been nothing but beneficial to him and has helped him continue to grow.
"It's a combination of him being on top of me, making sure I am putting the work in, as well as me having a few years of experience under my belt," said Berry. "The combination has helped me improve in the time I have been here. Danny is there daily making sure we are doing the small things we need to do to get better. He has been coaching for a long time, so to have that experience helping us, myself, Kameron (Canaday) and Boz (Chris Boswell), it's beneficial."
This offseason Berry has a checklist of things he wants to work on, and the one recurring word was consistency.
"Continue to make sure I am being consistent with the hang time, and direction," said Berry. "Continue to improve on consistency. You want to go through a season without hitting a bad ball, but it's almost impossible to do. You want to work as close to that as you can, if not achieve it. I have to put the work in and get that percentage better here and there."
