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The Buffalo Bills have their punter. On Wednesday, the team agreed to terms with veteran punter Sam Martin to a deal, according to the NFL Network. This signing comes off the heels of the Bills cutting rookie Matt Araiza after a civil lawsuit was filed in California that accused him of rape.
Martin finds his way to Buffalo after spending the past two seasons with the Denver Broncos and was cut earlier this week as teams trimmed down rosters to reach the 53-man requirement before Tuesday’s deadline.
Over the last two seasons in Denver, the 32-year-old averaged 46.4 yards per punt. Last season, Smith was a top-five punter in the league statistically and set the franchise’s all-time record for net punting. He originally entered the league in 2013 as a fifth-round draft choice of the Detroit Lions where he spent the first seven years of his career.
Prior to the accusations against Araiza becoming public, the 2022 sixth-round pick out of San Diego State had recently beaten out incumbent Matt Haack for the job. GM Brandon Beane said that the team did have issues getting answers about Araiza and that this issue was “bigger than football.”
“There are many things that we could not get our hands on,” Beane said. “This was about letting Matt go handle his situation.”
Buffalo will open up the 2022 regular season when they travel to Los Angeles to face the Rams on Sept. 8.