Bills release punter Matt Araiza, now looking for replacement

The Buffalo Bills released punter Matt Araiza on Saturday, two days after a civil lawsuit was filed against him claiming that he and two other San Diego State football players raped a minor in October of 2021.

The team, along with the rest of the country, learned the details of the lawsuit on Thursday and because of this, the Bills didn’t let him play in Friday’s preseason game against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte. Araiza was not on the sideline during the game or in the locker room after the game ended, but he did travel with the team to Charlotte and returned to Buffalo with the team afterwards.

After Friday’s preseason loss against the Panthers, head coach Sean McDermott sat down with the press to answer questions. Although he wouldn’t go into much detail, you could tell that this situation had impacted him and the team in a big way.

After Saturday’s practice, the Bills addressed the situation fully. McDermott was joined by GM Brandon Beane as the two held a press conference immediately after Araiza’s release was announced by the team. Beane started off the press conference by stating that, “This is a legal situation and we don’t know all of the facts.” He went on to say, “…our culture here is more important than winning football games.”

Brandon Beane said that once it became a civil case it was in Matt’s best interest to be released from the team to handle the situation. Coach McDermott said Araiza understood it was best for him to be released. 

The Bills cut punter Matt Haack on August 22, who was in a roster battle with Araiza. Now, with the release of Araiza, the Bills are left with no punters on the roster just two weeks away from the season opener. Due to this, the Bills are compiling a list of players who will be invited to tryout for the job, according to Tim Graham. All of a sudden, the Bills punter job is the most sought-after job from free agent punters across the country.

A couple of former NFL punters have tweeted about the job opening already, one of them being Marquette King. King tweeted, “I just wanna get a ring” in hopes that Buffalo would give him a chance. King played for the Raiders and Broncos, but the last year he played was 2018. Another former NFL punter who seems interested in the job opening is Jake Schum. Schum, who lives in Buffalo, last played in the NFL in 2016 with the Packers, but recently played in the XFL for the Vipers. Many players will show up for the opportunity to be the punter for the Bills. More punters could be available by Tuesday, when NFL rosters are trimmed from 80 to 53.

It appears the Bills have already gotten started with their punter tryouts:

Below, you can find the full audio from Saturday night’s press conference with Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott: