Report: Some NFL teams knew of Matt Araiza allegations before 2022 draft
The Buffalo Bills have claimed they did not know about allegations recently made in a lawsuit against former punter Matt Araiza prior to the 2022 NFL draft.
Reportedly other teams did.
According to the Associated Press, of five anonymous teams that were tapped for info, two were aware of the Araiza situation:
A person familiar with the case told the AP’s @john_wawrow the Bills were not aware of the allegations against Araiza in April. I spoke to executives from 5 different teams. 2 were aware; 3 weren’t. More info 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/TNvSnmHOpk
— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) August 26, 2022
Over the weekend, the Bills released punter Araiza amid a backlash of criticism after the rookie was accused in a gang-rape lawsuit.
Buffalo selected Araiza in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL draft. That came to the surprise of some draft onlookers because Araiza, nicknamed the “Punt God,” was once projected to potentially be the highest-ever selected punter. Instead, he wasn’t even the top one taken in his own draft as the earliest one went off the board as high as Round 4.
Reportedly the Bills did not find out about the accusations until late July. Even then, the team tabbed Araiza as their top punter, having released incumbent Matt Haack on Aug. 22.
Following Araiza’s release, Buffalo has yet to sign a new punter.
