Matt Araiza update: Where is former Bills punter now?

Matt Araiza was the Punt God in college and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 2022 NFL Draft. However, a year on from then, he is now a free agent without a team.

Araiza's story is sordid and infuriating in equal measure. In 2022, he was accused of gang rape. The accuser was also underage at the time it happened, which further increased the gravity of the matter. Based on the seriousness of the allegations, he was released by the Bills in August.

It has since emerged that the evidence does not add up to the accusations based on what the San Diego County District Attorney's office has revealed. It seems that the punter was not present at the time the act took place and the criminal charges against him have been dropped.

Timestamps show that the reported acts took place at around 1:30 AM and based on what the prosecutors could determine, he left the premises nearly an hour before that. It also emerged that the accuser had reportedly concealed her real age and it did not look as if the acts were performed without her consent.

Despite that, Matt Araiza remains without a team and there are multiple factors that are at play here.

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Why does Matt Araiza not have a team yet?

Firstly, even though a punter is a specialist position, it is not the most important one on an NFL roster.

A case in point is Buffalo Bills' current punter Sam Martin. Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for example, he had a pin-point punt that went out of bounds on the three-yard line. Therefore, teams do not miss specialist punters like Matt Araiza in the same way as they would miss other skilled positions.

The other part of the equation that is specific to Matt Araiza is that he has filed a defamation lawsuit against his accuser. In July of this year, he accused the woman who had alleged that he was part of the gang rape to have defamed him through her statements to authorities and the local and national press.

As long as that and the civil charges, which have a lower threshold for proof that criminal chargers, are unresolved, teams might keep passing up on him.

Finally, most NFL teams do not want a public frenzy to follow them, which will inevitably be the case.

The Bills, when they drafted Matt Araiza, knew about the issue that would ensnare his career. The San Diego Police had spent roughly 10 months on the case and forwarded it to the district attorney without a recommendation for prosecution. Buffalo had done its own investigation and decided to go ahead with him anyway.

Based on his college performances at San Diego State, where his 51.19 punt yards average was an NCAA record, they decided they were not conflicted in signing him. However, once the criminal trial was launched and the news made it to the papers, the public pressure became too much for the franchise to bear.

General manager Brandon Beane said, when releasing him:

“We just think it’s the best move for everyone to move on from Matt and let him take care of this situation.”

In effect, for Matt Araiza to return to the league, all his legal issues likely need to be over. These range from the civil trial to the resolution of his defamation lawsuit against the initial accuser. That will ensure that the public interest in this case declines to a certain degree.

Most importantly, if that happens, he will still need a chance where the right opportunity opens up at the right time. A punter remains more replacable than most positions. One only needs to look at Deshaun Watson to understand how different positions have different worths.

The quarterback also stands accused of sexual harrasment and still has a civil lawsuit pending. Yet, he is playing on a guaranteed contract with the Cleveland Browns.