Doc Posted June 15 Posted June 15 4 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said: Crap move cutting him before the facts fully came out in the first place. Totally disagree. It was a huge distraction they didn't need going into and lasting for much of the season. Her lawyer did a great job of making it seem like he raped an innocent teen at his house and then tossed her carcass to his buddies to finish off. Even guys like Mitch Morse were saying it was hard to hear the allegations. 1 Quote
billsfan89 Posted June 15 Posted June 15 1 hour ago, Rochesterfan said: I think you were roasted because “administrative leave” is not a thing. The Bills could not do what you suggested as it is not an option. The only leave would be if the NFL put him on leave and the NFL was not allowed to do that because the transgression occurred in college not the NFL. Therefore - the Bills had very limited options. Cut him, Keep him on the roster, or work with the player and the NFLPA to get him on a reserved non-football list - which based upon the timing would have blocked him out for the season and would have left the NFL money on the table in the lawsuit. In the end he sat out the 2 years while the various lawsuits fell away and without the NFL contract in place there was not a lot of money for the others lawyer to go after. The understanding at the time was the Bills (Beane) talked with the player and the agent about the options they had - either cutting him or getting the player to step away so they could use the Reserve list and keep him away for the year. The agreement between the sides was for him to go away and handle the lawsuits and keep the other lawyers from using his contract as a bargaining chip. The problem with your suggestion is that there is nothing like what you suggested that the Bills could do. They explored options and talked with the NFL, the player and his agent, and the NFLPA and had limited options of either keeping him on the roster or cutting him. Really a no brainer at that point with that team. Thanks for the breakdown, I wasn't sure why they couldn't have gotten him on the exempt list but this explanation makes sense. I also think the Bills may have not even wanted to carry him on the exempt list as players on the exempt list still count against the cap and having two punters (even both on modest to small contracts) on your cap isn't always an efficient use of cap. But I do think had they had the option they could have considered it. Quote
billsbackto81 Posted June 15 Posted June 15 3 hours ago, Brand J said: Punter or not, this still stings. It stings because it's the Chiefs. Quote
BullBuchanan Posted June 15 Posted June 15 If he has to be in the NFL, I'm just glad he's not playing for us. 1 Quote
Doc Brown Posted June 15 Posted June 15 You know the Chiefs are in our heads when we're talking about a team signing a punter. 1 2 Quote
billsbackto81 Posted June 15 Posted June 15 25 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said: The Bills got royally screwed in this situation. I can't fault Beane or McDermott for how they handled it. Araiza wasn't completely upfront about what his situation was, this thing completely blindsided them. They had no choice but to release him or it would have been an absolute PR nightmare. It already was that in the brief time period the allegations broke out. After how everything transpired and lack of clarity from Araiza's camp the Bills were never going to bring him back here. The extra kick in the nuts on this thing is of course getting signed by the Chiefs of all teams. I kinda blame them a little. He was the consensus #1 punter in that draft yet 2 punters were drafted before him I believe. There had to be some Intel out there concerning his situation. Other teams knew to shy away, why didn't Buffalo? 1 Quote
Gunsgoodtime Posted June 15 Posted June 15 Shocker 3 hours ago, Gugny said: Based on what? He’s never taken an NFL snap. Lots of evidence on film, let's not get too homered Quote
Augie Posted June 15 Posted June 15 4 minutes ago, Gunsgoodtime said: Shocker Lots of evidence on film, let's not get too homered Yeah, he just catches and kicks a ball. It’s not really an issue for him that everyone around him is bigger and faster than they used to be. It’s actually irrelevant unless he has to get involved with a tackle for some reason, and that is not supposed to happen. 1 Quote
muppy Posted June 15 Posted June 15 8 minutes ago, Doc Brown said: You know the Chiefs are in our heads when we're talking about a team signing a punter. yeah there are threads which post KC super bowl Bling at the premiere Bills chat site In our heads clearly. It's bitterness. At least I own it. I wish them well ZERO Quote
Gunsgoodtime Posted June 15 Posted June 15 Just now, Augie said: Yeah, he just catches and kicks a ball. It’s not really an issue for him that everyone around him is bigger and faster than they used to be. It’s actually irrelevant unless he has to get involved with a tackle for some reason, and that is not supposed to happen. Sure, changing the field means nothing, that's why he is playing for the multi SB winning Chiefs Quote
Gugny Posted June 15 Posted June 15 9 minutes ago, Gunsgoodtime said: Shocker Lots of evidence on film, let's not get too homered There’s lots of evidence on film that show what? That he was great in college? All the best guys go in Round 6. Tom Brady Matt Araiza Everyone Else Quote
Gunsgoodtime Posted June 15 Posted June 15 1 minute ago, Gugny said: There’s lots of evidence on film that show what? That he was great in college? All the best guys go in Round 6. Tom Brady Matt Araiza Everyone Else Araiza over Brady, but whatever Quote
BillsFanForever19 Posted June 15 Posted June 15 (edited) 3 hours ago, JROC INTEL said: Big mistake by the bills by not having him back. He’s a weapon. I don't think bringing him back was an option. We may very well have tried to. But if you're Araiza, are you going to return to us and compete for the job or get a fresh start, signing with the back to back Super Bowl Champions who had no real competition? Edited June 15 by BillsFanForever19 Quote
90sBills Posted June 15 Posted June 15 13 minutes ago, Gugny said: There’s lots of evidence on film that show what? That he was great in college? All the best guys go in Round 6. Tom Brady Matt Araiza Everyone Else Don’t you think there’s a difference between positional players vs specialists like punters? Quote
billsfan89 Posted June 15 Posted June 15 This does beg the question of what is the value of "the best punter in the league" or even the best punter of all time. We all know there's very good value in having a quality punter. Badly handled snaps or even shanked kicks are equivalent to turnovers. These numbers come from chat GPT but seem reasonably accurate. In 2021 The net average NFL punt had a net of about 41.4 yards The highest net average for any punter for a single season was 46 yards set in 2016 by Johnny Hekker If you had a punter who averaged a net of 48 yards a punt that would be by far the greatest of all time eclipsing the highest net ever by 2 yards. Only .3% of punts are ever returned for TD's. About 8% of punts are returned for more than 20 yards. That means the greatest punter of all time would give you an average of 6.6 yards per punt over the average punter and about 3ish yards over the top punters in the league in terms of net yards. Assuming with this hypothetical punter you never get the following. A botched snap. A big return of more than 20 yards or a TD return A shanked punt (all punts gain at least a 35 yard net) What is the true value of that extra net and lack of disastrous plays? What type of cap dollars would that player command? Justin Tucker is the top paid kicker at about 6 million a season while the top paid punter is currently getting about 3.6 million. I would say this type of imaginary player would probably get 4.5-5 million a season. Quote
pennstate10 Posted June 15 Posted June 15 4 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said: https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/matt-araiza-appears-to-win-chiefs-punting-job "Matt Araiza, the strong-legged punter whose career was derailed by a sexual assault accusation, appears poised to win the Chiefs’ punting job for the 2024 season. The Chiefs cut punter Ryan Rehkow, which leaves Araiza as the only punter on their roster. It’s still possible that the Chiefs could bring in another punter to compete with Araiza, but it looks like Araiza is going to be the Chiefs’ punter when the regular season starts. Araiza won the Bills’ punting job as a rookie in 2022, but when news surfaced that he had been accused in a lawsuit of gang rape while he was in college, the Bills cut him and he was out of the NFL for more than a year. Araiza was never criminally charged, and the accuser later dropped her lawsuit. At San Diego State, Araiza was widely regarded as the best punter in college football, winning the Ray Guy Award and setting a new NCAA record by averaging 51.2 yards per punt. Araiza also handled kickoffs and field goals in college. With the off-field issue that ended his tenure in Buffalo behind him, Araiza now has an opportunity to show what he can do in the NFL. If he’s as good as he was in college, he should be one of the best punters in football this season." There was a pretty good debate as to whether Araiza was a better punter than Jordan Stout that year. Stout was better at many metrics, including net punting. Araiza had lesser hang time and more returned. 1 Quote
SoonerBillsFan Posted June 15 Posted June 15 1 hour ago, Doc said: Totally disagree. It was a huge distraction they didn't need going into and lasting for much of the season. Her lawyer did a great job of making it seem like he raped an innocent teen at his house and then tossed her carcass to his buddies to finish off. Even guys like Mitch Morse were saying it was hard to hear the allegations. Innocent until proven guilty. But in America these days it's immediate guilty just because. 1 Quote
Success Posted June 15 Posted June 15 A big leg isn't everything for a punter. Some scouts didn't like him because his kicks would outdistance the coverage. He's also just a boomer, from what I understand - not good at directional or pinning inside the 20. And yes, I'm rationalizing. It works. 1 Quote
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