It took nearly 18 months, but Matt Araiza is finally back in the NFL. The player known as “Punt God” has agreed to a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, according to his sports agency.
Araiza was originally drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 2022, but he didn’t end up playing a single down with the team. Just four months after he was drafted, Araiza was one of the accusers named in a rape lawsuit, which led the Bills to releasing him in August 2022.
Over the past 18 months, though, his legal situation has cleaned up considerably. First, police in San Diego announced in December 2022 that he wouldn’t be charged with any crime. In December 2023, the woman who filed the original lawsuit decided to drop Araiza’s name from the suit, which opened the door for an NFL return.
The 23-year-old will now look to make the Chiefs’ roster after a historical college career where he broke multiple NCAA records at San Diego State.
Not only did he lead the nation in punting average with an FBS-record 51.4 yards per punt in 2021, but he also had six punts of at least 70 yards that season, which was the most in the country. To put that in perspective, there were only 14 punts of 70 or more yards by every NFL punter combined last season. Araiza also boomed an 86-yard punt in 2021, which was the longest in college football that season. (The longest punt in the NFL last season was 83 yards, which was accomplished by Las Vegas’ AJ Cole and JK Scott of the Chargers.)
With Araiza now in the fold, it will be interesting to see what happens with Tommy Townsend. The Chiefs’ current punter is set to be a free agent, so the Chiefs could just let him walk, but that won’t be an easy decision considering he’s been one of the best punters in the NFL over the past few seasons.
Although he had a slightly down year in 2023, he was coming off two seasons where he was one of the best punters in the league. After…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/chiefs-set-to-sign-punt-god-matt-araiza-after-former-2022-nfl-draft-pick-puts-legal-issues-behind-him/
Author : John Breech
Publish date : 2024-02-22 21:17:04
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