The Kansas City Chiefs made a major move earlier this week, signing Matt Araiza, the “Punt God.” This could allow the Broncos to improve their own punting situation. Araiza was out of the NFL for a little bit, as some off-field issues and legal matters were hanging over his head. Those are behind him now, and he’s found himself on the defending Super Bowl Champions.
A big development in Kansas City: The Chiefs are signing former Bills punter Matt Araiza, per source.
What’s so special about Araiza? Well, he averaged over 50 yards per boot while in college at San Diego State and was drafted in the sixth round by the Buffalo Bills in the 2022 NFL Draft. Araiza was likely going to head into the NFL as arguably the best punter in the league, but the off-field issues put a brief halt on his career.
It’s very likely that Araiza will be the Chiefs’ punter for the present and future, which would mean that their current punter for the last few seasons, Tommy Townsend, could find himself on a new team. And that new team should be the Denver Broncos. Townsend has made one Pro Bowl and one All-Pro team.
In 2022, he averaged over 50 yards per punt and averaged 47.4 yards per punt over his four-year career. He averages 42.8 net yards per punt and has a career-long average of 76 yards. A whopping 40.8% of his punts have been downed inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.
The current Broncos punter, Riley Dixon, is not as good. Dixon has averaged 45.8 yards per punt over his career and 40.8 net yards per punt. He’s got a career-long 71 yards and has just 33.5% of his punts downed inside the opponents’ 40-yard line.
Dixon played the 2016–2017 seasons in Denver before being brought back in 2023. Obviously, the contract is nothing notable. Punters don’t make a lot, so if the Broncos did cut Dixon and sign Townsend, the financial impact would be very small. Tommy Townsend is a few years younger as well.
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Townsend could feel a bit slighted that the Chiefs look to be choosing another punter who has never punted in a regular season game over him, so perhaps he’d want to stick it to his old team. The Broncos should not shy away at this potential opportunity to sign Townsend.
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