Should Cardinals Bring in Matt Araiza?
The Arizona Cardinals are in the midst of a rebuild not only in terms of their roster, but also the general culture of the organization.
We went through the very clear efforts of Monti Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon to find high character football guys in the 2023 NFL Draft, and when you look at the headlines that have surrounded Arizona in the last calendar year, it's much needed.
The Buffalo Bills drafted punter Matt Araiza last offseason and released him before the regular season began after his implication in a sexual assault/rape case - a very serious matter that carries consequences far beyond the surface of whether or not Araiza would step foot in an NFL stadium.
Long story short, it was announced back in December that Araiza would not be facing criminal charges. However, he is still in a civil suit and is waiting for his name to be cleared. You can read more about the entire situation in this detailed article from Yahoo!.
The Cardinals didn't bring back Andy Lee and are in search for their punter of the future - with Arizona projecting to punt a lot in 2023, they'll need the best guy possible for the job - is Araiza a possibility?
A little about Araiza: He was highly considered to be one of the best punting prospects coming out of college in a long time after proving himself at San Diego State. However, alarm bells began to go off in the heads of many people after he was the third punter selected in the 2022 NFL Draft.
The 33rd Team did an excellent dive into how NFL clubs navigate these sorts of issues and applied it to the potential future employment of Araiza.
"According to his agent, Joe Linta, Araiza sent an audio recording to approximately 20 teams in hopes of extricating himself from his current situation. The Dec. 7 recording, more than 100 minutes long, is of San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Trisha Amador explaining to Araiza’s accuser why no criminal charges would be filed, including evidence to support the prosecution’s belief that Araiza was not present at the time of the alleged rape," said Barry Wilner.
Former NFL executive Rick Spielman says teams will need to be absolutely sure things will be clear with Araiza.
“When dealing with those allegations, you need to be sure that there is absolutely no way that they can come back and bite you or the player," Spielman said in the article.
"Certainly, ownership is involved in any decision, the business side as well, and you make sure the whole organization is involved in all decisions, everything from A to Z. It seems like there’s no criminal case there. There’s definitely still a red flag (with Araiza being) named in the civil suit.”
It might be awhile until Araiza signs somewhere, if anywhere at all.
“I don’t see a team looking at Araiza right now, who has not yet played in the NFL and plays less of a priority position as a punter,” said former NFL executive Jeff Diamond.
“I think NFL teams will wait until after Araiza’s civil case goes to trial, and if he is exonerated, then there will be a limited number of teams who probably will try to sign him.”
If the Cardinals were indeed interested in Araiza, there's plenty to sort through before he can even be brought to the facility.
But would they be?
Bringing the whole football character thing full circle, it's hard to imagine the Cardinals wanting to bring somebody in with that kind of luggage at the moment, especially with owner Michael Bidwill and his recent string of alleged incidents of cheating, harassment and defamation of character from a former VP of personnel.
The new front office - and coaching staff - have worked to try and clean out the organization from top to bottom.
Perhaps if Araiza is cleared of everything, he'll get an opportunity elsewhere, if not in Arizona. The talent is obviously there, but there's still too much surrounding his name at the moment.
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