In a case of “How didn’t you know,” it appears that while the Buffalo Bills had no clue about the allegations around punter Matt Araiza when he was drafted two other teams saw red flags.
The lawyer for Araiza’s accuser went to teams interested in the young athlete resulting in two teams passing him over during the Draft.
Two Other NFL Teams Knew About the Rape Investigation Around Released Buffalo Bills Punter Matt Araiza and Passed on Him During the Draft
For those in the dark, Matt Araiza was dropped from the Bills on August 27, 2022 in relation to the allegations around him being involved in the gang rape of a 17-year-old. From the Bills’ perspective, they claim to only know that he was involved in an incident—the same as the other two teams, according to the Associated Press.
That’s all they knew heading into the NFL Draft but the other two teams’ front offices probably saw “incident” and the sirens went off. Surely, a lawyer isn’t going to approach a team about a player over something mild and has no chance of damaging the franchise or undermining it.
Also, with allegations of players in different sports soliciting sexual favors, doing hard drugs, and so on as if this was the MLB in the 1970s, the word “incident” should be a red flag even without context. So, the other teams pass on Araiza while the Bills scoop him up only to drop him once the allegations came out.
Of course, Araiza denied the allegations, and his lawyer, Kerry Armstrong had this to say of the allegations and the release of the Punt God:
“I am sure he is very upset and disappointed that his career with the Bills ended not because he played poorly but because of false allegations leveled against him by a young lady and her attorney. I hope he is back in the NFL soon.”
Bills GM Brandon Beane stands by his decision to bring Araiza in even after hearing what the victim’s lawyer had to say about the allegations. Their approach was to give the legal process enough time while trying to get the detail from law enforcement in San Diego.
As the Draft rolled around, the Bills didn’t really have enough to go on in regards to the incident in question. When specifics of the allegations came out, the franchise began phasing out Araiza and making some distance.
The lawyer, Dan Gilleon felt that the Bills were basically dealing with the consequence of not taking the news of the allegation seriously enough. He would tell the AP:
“The Buffalo Bills had no choice but to cut their young punter after so badly botching their response to our claim. They ignored us, [when] I warned them [what] would happen could be avoided if they just kept their heads in the sand. This is what enablers do.”
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