Matt Araiza won the punting battle the Buffalo Bills had at 2022 training camp.
The sixth-round rookie is wise beyond his years. He already knows that’s only the start for him.
On Monday, the Bills decided to release their incumbent punter Matt Haack. Doing so hands the starting job to Araiza.
Haack signed a revised contract this spring because he struggled in 2021, his first season in Buffalo. Once the Bills went on to select Araiza in the 2022 NFL draft, the writing was on the wall.
But to Araiza’s credit, he earned it. It was well noted all offseason that Araiza had to master holding duties for kicker Tyler Bass.
Despite the update, Araiza is not going to celebrate anything. There’s still a lot of pressure waiting for him once the regular season begins and he knows it.
“I wouldn’t call it a relief, because you have to go out and earn your job every week,” Araiza said via video conference. “It’s a step in the right direction, and I’m grateful for it, for sure.”
Not only was Araiza pumping the brakes, so was his head coach. Buffalo’s Sean McDermott praised Araiza’s early-career efforts.
Still, McDermott wants the young special teamer to keep rolling into the regular season.
“What we’ve seen to this point with Matt Araiza, he’s off to a good start,” McDermott said via video conference. “He’s got to continue to work and I think that’s the right mindset here.”
For more from McDermott on the conclusion of his team’s punter battle, see the WIVB-TV clip below:
Sean McDermott on what else Matt Araiza has to work on: "It's one thing to punt the ball 80 something yards, it's another thing to can you fine tune your game in those areas where it's gotta be polished, the pooch punts, backed up situations." pic.twitter.com/Iljh57xRXT
— Heather Prusak (@haprusak) August 22, 2022
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