Buffalo Bills Release Matt Araiza: Team Explains Decision to Part Ways Following Gang Rape Allegations

The Buffalo Bills have made their decision on Matt Araiza.

After the punter was accused a ‘gang rape’ stemming from his days at San Diego State University, the team made the ultimate decision to release him on Saturday.

“This is bigger than football,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane said Saturday night via ESPN. “Let’s just step back and [let Araiza] go handle this. That’s what we thought was most important.”

While Araiza was lauded early in preseason for his performances, he’s been out of practice, and was held out of the team’s preseason game on Friday night following the troubling allegations.

In a statement, Araiza claimed his innocence.

“The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press. I look forward to quickly setting the record straight,” he said.

After the preseason game on Friday, Bills head coach Sean McDermott pointed to ‘new information’ that he had learned within a 24 hour period.

Now, the team’s investigation seems to have found enough in their own, separate investigation to warrant letting the punter go despite not having another player on their roster who plays the position.

“With the serious nature and allegations, and we just can’t, we don’t have the means to put all the facts together,” Beane said. “There’s multiple versions of what happened, and [Sean McDermott’s] a football coach, I’m a GM. We don’t have access to everything, and so that’s more important than playing football. And so, we want Matt to focus on that.”

We’ll await any more developments in the Matt Araiza case.

---

Welcome to the game outside the game! Follow us on our Sideaction Twitter handle, Instagram, and Facebook for the latest on sports and pop culture news across the web!