Bills make a final decision on what to do with Matt Araiza
The Buffalo Bills are releasing punter Matt Araiza, reported ESPN's Adam Schefter. Shortly after, the team announced it officially in a press conference. The sixth-round draft pick had beaten out Matt Haack for the punting job over the preseason. Earlier this week, the L.A. Times broke news about Araiza and two other San Diego State football […]
The Buffalo Bills are releasing punter Matt Araiza, reported ESPN's Adam Schefter. Shortly after, the team announced it officially in a press conference.
The sixth-round draft pick had beaten out Matt Haack for the punting job over the preseason.
Earlier this week, the L.A. Times broke news about Araiza and two other San Diego State football players being involved in a civil lawsuit. The lawsuit accused Araiza of gang-raping a 17-year-old girl last year.
"The lawsuit comes as San Diego State faces ongoing criticism after a Times investigation found that the university decided not to alert the campus community about the alleged gang rape and waited more than seven months to launch its own investigation," reported Colleen Shalby and Robert J. Lopez from the L.A. Times.
"This afternoon, we decided that releasing Matt Araiza was the best thing to do. Our culture in Buffalo is more important than winning football games," announced Bills General Manager Brandon Beane in a press conference on Saturday.
"We tried to be thorough and thoughtful and not rush to judgment, and I would say it's not easy. You're trying to put facts around a legal situation sometimes with limited information," said Beane. The Bills GM added the franchise was not aware of the situation during the draft process and that NFL teams they spoke with also didn't know.
"This was about – not a football move – it was about letting Matt go handle the situation," Beane added. "This is bigger than football."
Featured image via Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
