Former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza is looking to officially return to his professional football career after being falsely accused of sexual assault. And it looks like the Kansas City Chiefs are sold on him being their punter for the upcoming 2024-25 season.
Araiza, who was originally drafted by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, never got a chance to prove what he could do in the NFL after he was accused of the sexual assault that dated back to his collegiate playing days at San Diego State.
It was ultimately concluded that Araiza was not present at the time of the assault, clearing him of all charges and allowing him the opportunity to finally give his NFL career a shot.
The back-to-back Super Bowl champions in Kansas Citytook this opportunity, signing him back in February to compete for the starting punting job.
It seems like Araiza may get the starting opportunity for the Chiefs, as they recently released punter Ryan Rehkow. This leaves Araiza as the only punter on the roster at the moment.
Obviously, there is still time for the Chiefs to potentially bring in another player at the position to compete with Araiza for the starting job as we approach training camp.
But for the time being, Araiza has the inside shot at becoming the starter, which is obviously great to hear considering all of the time he missed out on due to the false allegation against him.
It will be interesting to see how Araiza looks if he does get the starting job. Coming into the league, he had a ton of promise after breaking the NCAA record for punting distance with an average of 51.2 yards per punt.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.