NFL waiver course of, defined | SB Nation

Tuesday was one of many hardest days on the NFL calendar.

Groups had till 4:00 p.m. Japanese to trim their rosters right down to 53 gamers, which means that just about 1,000 potential NFL gamers acquired some tough information forward of the deadline.

However for these gamers, the unhealthy information they acquired on Tuesday doesn’t imply their NFL journey is over. Many of those gamers at the moment are eligible to be signed via the league’s waiver course of.

Let’s dive into how that works.

What’s the waiver course of within the NFL?

Gamers which are launched by groups and topic to waivers — extra on that in a second — might be signed by groups via the waiver course of. Which means any one of many 32 NFL groups can declare them off waivers and, if their declare is profitable, assume their present contract.

The primary waiver deadline of the 2025 season comes at 12:00 p.m. Japanese on Wednesday. Groups should submit their waiver claims by then, and the claims are processed at the moment.

What gamers are topic to waivers?

This brings us to the distinction between vested and non-vested gamers.

Vested gamers are these with 4 years of accrued NFL service time or extra. These gamers are merely launched outright and instantly turn out to be free brokers, eligible to signal with a staff of their selecting.

Gamers with lower than 4 years of accrued NFL service time are non-vested gamers, and these are the gamers topic to waivers. When these gamers are lower, they’re given a “waived” designation, which means they undergo the waiver course of as outlined above.

Non-vested gamers who “cross via waivers,” which means they weren’t claimed by any of the groups, turn out to be free brokers and are then eligible to signal with any staff. They will even signal onto the observe squad of the staff that initially waived them.

Following the NFL commerce deadline — which is November 5 — even vested gamers are topic to the waiver course of.

What’s the present waiver order?

For the primary three weeks of the NFL season, the waiver order follows the order from the 2025 NFL Draft. Meaning groups with the worst data from 2024 have precedence.

After the primary three weeks of the season, the waiver order will reset to the present NFL standings and be tailored weekly all through the season.

This additionally implies that the Tennessee Titans, who chosen Cam Ward with the first-overall choice within the 2025 NFL Draft, could have the primary crack at each obtainable participant. As well as, if two totally different groups put in a declare on the identical participant, the staff with the upper waiver precedence will win the bid.

For instance, if the Las Vegas Raiders and the New Orleans Saints put a waiver declare on the identical participant, the Raiders will win the bid.

Right here is the waiver order for the primary three weeks of the 2025 NFL season: