Chiefs have until March 5 to franchise tag Chris Jones or L’Jarius Sneed
22 February 2024
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs have reportedly found their new punter.
Former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza has signed with the Chiefs, according to his agency JL Sports.
This move makes it likely that All-Pro punter Tommy Townsend will not re-sign with the Chiefs after his four-year, two-Super Bowl run in Kansas City.
Araiza was an all-conference, Ray Guy Award-winning punter at San Diego State before he was drafted by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
He was named the starting punter before the first regular season game but was released a day later. The release came one day after a lawsuit accusing him and two former SDSU teammates of rape became public.
The lawsuit alleges a 17-year-old girl was raped at an off-campus party in October 2021 and that Araiza, then 21, had sex with her in a side yard at an off-campus house before bringing her into a bedroom where a group of men took turns raping her. She reported the alleged assault to San Diego police the next day.
In May 2023, San Diego State University concluded there were no findings against Araiza after investigating allegations of rape and gang rape.
In December 2023, the woman agreed Tuesday to dismiss Araiza from the lawsuit she filed last year, while Araiza agreed to dismiss his defamation countersuit against her, his attorneys said in a statement.
Araiza has said he stayed in the backyard and never entered the home during the party and that he left nearly a half-hour before the alleged rape occurred.
He and most of the other players the woman is suing have said their encounters with her were consensual.
The 23-year-old has yet to play a snap in an NFL regular season game.