Bills general manager Brandon Beane said the team struggled to get answers about Araiza, per ESPN, and that this was “bigger than football.” “There’s a lot of things we couldn’t get our hands on,” Beane said. “That was about letting Matt handle his situation.” The Bills benched Araiza for Friday’s preseason game and held him out of practice Saturday before making the decision to let him go. After Buffalo’s 21-0 loss to the Panthers, Bills coach Sean McDermott was asked if Araiza would still be around after the final cuts on Tuesday, and at the time, he declined to answer the question, which might have been the first sign that the Bills were thinking about moving on. “I’m not going to get into that right now,” McDermott said, via Buffalonews.com. “It’s clear, like I said, it’s clear we have work to do here and figure this thing out.” The Bills’ decision to release Araiza came after the release of a lawsuit alleging the player participated in the gang-rape of a girl who was just 17 at the time of the alleged incident. According to the lawsuit, the accuser went to Araiza’s residence near San Diego State’s campus for a Halloween party on Oct. 16, 2021. After arriving at the party, the girl said Araiza gave her a drink even though she was already drunk. According to the lawsuit, the girl believes the drink “not only contained alcohol, but also other intoxicants.” A short time later, Araiza allegedly had sexual contact with the then-high school senior, who then took her to a room where she was repeatedly raped by other men. Araiza was one of three men named in the lawsuit along with former San Diego State teammates Zavier Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko. Although only three people are named, the girl believes she may have been raped by up to 20 men. The day after the alleged incident, the girl went to the San Diego Police Department where she told her story and made a rape kit. The SDPD has since submitted its investigation to prosecutors for a reconsideration of the rape charge, the San Diego County District Attorney’s office told WIVB.com on Friday. Although prosecutors are now looking into the case, they have not yet announced whether criminal charges will be brought. For his part, Araiza said the details of the lawsuit were inaccurate. “The facts of the incident are not what is presented in the lawsuit or in the press,” Araiza said in a statement Friday. “I’m looking forward to quickly achieving the record.” The player’s lawyer, Kerry Armstrong, denied all the allegations and even hinted that the accuser is just after Araiza’s money. “It’s a shakedown because he’s with the Buffalo Bills now,” Armstrong said, via the Los Angeles Times. “There’s no doubt in my mind that Matt Araiza [never] rape that girl.” Despite comments from Araiza’s attorney, there is a potentially damning element to the lawsuit. The girl allegedly called Araiza in October while police were listening. During the call, “Araiza confirmed that she had sex with [the girl]even telling her to get tested for STDs,” according to the lawsuit. Since the girl was just 17 at the time, that could lead Araiza to a sex-with-a-minor charge, even if there is no evidence that to prove the remaining claims. One thing that isn’t clear is when the Bills learned of the allegations. According to the Athletic, the team was NOT aware of the rape charge when it drafted Araiza in April, but was made aware of it sometime last month. The plaintiff’s attorney, Dan Gilleon, told The Athletic that he contacted the Bills in a July 31 email. One day later, someone from the team’s general counsel said so on the phone, but no one from the team has contacted him in nearly four weeks since then. Araiza, who was selected in the sixth round of this year’s NFL Draft, had just officially won the Bills job over veteran Matt Haack this week before being released.
