As NFL roster cuts take place (follow them here with our roster cut tracker) the league’s waiver wire priority starts to become a factor. Any player with less than four accrued season (an accrued season is a minimum of six weeks on an NFL roster) will be waived and subject to the waiver wire before becoming a free agent.
The NFL’s waiver wire works mostly like the one in your fantasy football league(s). When a player is waived, teams can put in a claim to add that player. If only one team puts in a claim, that team is awarded the player. If multiple teams put in a claim though, the player goes to the team with priority on the waiver wire. Unclaimed players become free agents.
There is one key difference between the NFL waiver wire and its fantasy counterparts though. In the NFL, the order does not change after a player is claimed.
From the beginning of the offseason until Week 3, the NFL waiver order is determined by the previous year’s standings. The worst team has top priority, with the Super Bowl winner at the bottom. This means the Patriots are 21st when it comes to waiver priority during roster cuts.
2022 NFL waiver wire priority | until after week 3
— René Bugner (@RNBWCV) August 29, 2022
Claiming period for players placed on waivers at the final roster reduction will expire at 12:00 noon (Wednesday, Aug 31st), New York time. pic.twitter.com/W8XmwkTeVoWhat’s notable for the Patriots here is they sit one spot ahead of the Las Vegas Raiders. With former Patriots staffers Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler now running things in Las Vegas, it stands to reason that both teams may target some of the same players. If the Patriots and Raiders were to both make a waiver claim on a player, that player would be awarded to the Patriots.
As mentioned above, this will remain the NFL waiver order through Week 4. At that point, the order changes to reflect the current season’s standings, and will be updated weekly from there on out to continue to match the standings.
Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at abarth@985TheSportsHub.com.
