The phrase "were already put" is grammatically correct and commonly used in written English.
It is used to indicate that something was previously placed or arranged. Example: "All of the decorations were already put up when I arrived at the party."
The F.B.I. procedures encourage agents to renominate suspects for the watch list even if they were already put on it by another agency — meaning multiple agencies would have to be involved in any attempt to later remove that person.
In the 1930s, the majority of Germans were already put off by modern art — atonal music, Cubism, Surrealism, jazz, etc. — when the Nazis deemed it entartete kunst, or degenerate art.
Some of the components of Proposition 63 were already put into place when California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed six gun bills into law this summer.
"Tarantino is a rather popular topic for supercuts and video essays, so a ton of patterns were already put to good use pop culture references, trunk shots, low angle shots, deaths, etc," Swinney explains to The Creators Project.
Similar ideas, however for much more general purposes, were already put forward.
The manufacturers' organisation EEF said rising steel prices were already putting companies under pressure.
The MPs also warned that fare rises were already putting transport beyond the reach of many vulnerable or disadvantaged people.
In late 2013 Republicans were already putting out quiet feelers to Petraeus, the military's most prestigious general, to be their standard bearer in 2016.
But Everton were already putting in a decent display at that point, going in at the interval 1-0 up after Romelu Lukaku's 43rd-minute counter-attack strike.
We were already putting in long hours, but it was decided that two of our staff should be on call all night.
But campaigners and council chiefs told ministers budget cuts were already putting the system at risk.
