Kansas City Chiefs punter Matt Araiza will be back in the building for the 2026 season after signing a new one-year deal with the team, it has been confirmed.
Araiza, 25, has endured a tumultuous few years and was left in the NFL wilderness after being accused of raping a 17-year-old girl at a party in October 2021.
He was dropped from the lawsuit in December 2023 and the Chiefs gave him a route back into football ahead of the 2024 season.
He played all 17 games in 2024 and 2025 and the team has now handed him another new deal to continue his NFL comeback as the team looks to get back into the playoffs in 2026.
Araiza was first drafted by the Buffalo Bills in April 2022 but his career was derailed before he had started a game when the lawsuit was made public in August, accusing him and two of his former San Diego State teammates of gang-rape.
Within 48 hours he was released by the team and spent the next two years protesting his innocence. In December 2022, prosecutors announced that no criminal charges would be filed, and in December 2023 Araiza was dropped from the civil lawsuit.
He also dropped a defamation countersuit against the accuser, ending the ongoing saga and paving the way for his NFL return.
It was the Chiefs who provided a path back into the game, and he ended his first season in the league with an appearance in Super Bowl LIX, where he punted six times for a record average of 51.8 yards despite the loss to the Eagles.
Speaking ahead of that Super Bowl appearance, Araiza told the Daily Mail and other reporters: ‘There was a time where I didn’t think I would play in the NFL.
‘I would have been grateful to be on a team that didn’t win a game at all. So to be on this team that keeps winning games is a lot of fun.
‘They (the Chiefs) were really welcoming. When you join a team that’s coming off winning a Super Bowl you have to break into the group and prove yourself a little bit.
‘I felt like the Chiefs really was my last opportunity and if this didn’t go well I probably wouldn’t get another one.’
