Matt Araiza, Likely Chiefs Starting Punter, Bombs Kick During Training Camp
When Matt Araiza first entered the NFL, he had already earned the nickname "Punt God" in college at San Diego State. That led the Buffalo Bills to draft him in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
But his football career was derailed by an investigation into an alleged gang rape that Araiza was said to have participated in when he was in college.
However, the woman who accused him of sexual assault during a party in 2021 dropped her civil case against him in December.
That opened the door for Araiza to finally get his shot in the NFL. He was a member of the Bills during the preseason in 2022, but Buffalo cut him before he ever kicked in a regular season game.
The Buffalo Bills cut punter Matt Araiza in 2022 after a lawsuit was made public, and he has finally signed with another team, the Kansas City Chiefs, in 2024.
(Joshua Bessex/Getty Images)
Araiza remained a free agent for all of 2022 and 2023 while he waited for his legal issues to play out in court. The New York Jets gave him a tryout last off-season, but never signed him to a contract.
But everything changed in February when the Kansas City Chiefs, fresh off a Super Bowl victory, signed Araiza.
Now at Chiefs training camp, Araiza is back to doing what he does best: kicking the hell out of footballs.
A video was posted on X on Monday that showed Araiza bombing a 75-yard punt.
The Kansas City Chiefs currently do not have another punter on their roster, so it looks like Araiza is going to make the team come September.
He is likely to return to an NFL field this Saturday for the first time in two years when the Chiefs play in their preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It won't be his first preseason game, as he kicked in three Bills preseason contests prior to being released. Here's a quick reminder about how that went…
It's been a long journey for Araiza, but it looks like he's finally made his way back to the NFL.
He'll have an opportunity to make his official debut – over two years in the making – in the NFL's season-opening kickoff game when the Chiefs host the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, September 5.