Hey friend, have I ever told you how NFL Waivers work? I admit that growing up watching Football it never crossed my mind to think into the workings of the contracts and how teams manage players. Well let me jump start your journey to understanding the NFL waiver wire.
First off, the NFL waiver wire is a method of giving teams the option to exchange players who are unclaimed by any team. Basically, when players are put on waiver they are free to be claimed by any team, and the team claiming them will have their new player’s salary counted towards their salary cap. So to sum it, waivers are a way for teams to manage their roster without getting stuck with the extra players in the deal.
Now, how does the waiver process actually work? Well, the waiver wire is best broken down step by step. When players are put on waivers, a claim window opens which is a period of time that any team can claim the player. During this claim window any team can put in a claim for the player and be awarded the player. After the window is closed, the team that has the highest waiver priority that put in a claim is awarded the player. If no teams put in a claim on a player, then that player is then free to be signed by any team once the waiver process is complete.
The way the waiver system works is based on waiver priority. This priority is determined by a formula incorporating the teams record from the previous season and how many times any team has put in for waivers. This is put in place to prevent teams with terrible records from constantly taking the best available players each week while teams with good records sit on their hands. Also, as the claim window closes each week and teams are awarded new players those teams drop in priority.
Knowing how the waiver system works is important to understand NFL team building. It’s a great opportunity to be able to sign quality players from other NFL teams, but also a burden if a team is constantly putting in claims but awarded no players due to low priority. That’s why in season management of the waiver system is important, as teams should be aware of their priority level and what the other teams are doing, in order to put in a claim for a player if that is what a team is looking for.
In order to gain an advantage in the waiver process, teams can also try to trade with other teams in order to acquire players they may be interested in. This way, a team can acquire a player before anyone else has a chance to put in a claim. Trades in the NFL are very common, and I feel they are underrated in terms of importance when building a team.
Apart from that, it’s also good to have some background knowledge of a player before they are put on the waiver wire, as it can be very useful in evaluating the potential of that player. This could be from scouts, from other teams, and even from film and highlights. Knowing a player’s background is important in the waiver system, as it helps teams understand the worth of a player and anticipate their impact.
So there you have it, a quick run down of how NFL waivers work. It’s such a great way for teams to get the players they need while managing salary cap considerations, but it’s important to remember that it does not guarantee that certain teams will acquire certain players. If that were the case the waiver system would be meaningless, and teams would just be constantly engineering moves to get the best players. What do you think?