NFL Waiver Wire 2025 Explained: What Happens When A Player Is Waived, Released Or Claimed

As part of the NFL preseason schedule, all 32 teams are required to trim their rosters down to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday of cutdown week. That deadline kicks off a complex process involving waivers, injury designations, and practice squad assignments – all of which shape the final roster heading into Week 1. For fans following roster battles or monitoring potential pickups, here's a clear breakdown of what each term means and how the waiver wire system impacts final decisions.When a player is let go during roster cuts, they’re either waived or released – and the difference comes down to NFL experience. Players with less than four accrued seasons are waived, meaning they must go through the NFL's waiver system. Other teams have a chance to claim them before they become free agents. Veterans with four or more accrued seasons are released outright. They do not go through waivers and can immediately sign with any team. An accrued season is defined as at least six games spent on a team’s active roster, injured reserve, or physically unable to perform (PUP) list.Once players are waived, they enter a 24-hour waiver period (slightly shorter on cutdown day). During that window, other teams can submit claims to pick up that player. If more than one team submits a claim, priority is given based on the current waiver wire order, which is determined by draft position before Week 4 and by standings afterward. If no team claims the player, he becomes a free agent and can sign with any team — including the practice squad of the team that waived him. On cutdown day, the waiver window closes by Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET, and teams must make room on their 53-man roster for any claimed players.Last year, 27 players were claimed across the league on cutdown day. The Carolina Panthers alone picked up six.Injured players don’t always get waived — some are placed on special reserve lists. Here’s how each works:Reserve/PUP (Physically Unable to Perform): A player must have started training camp on the active/PUP list and stayed there. If moved to reserve/PUP by cutdown day, they must miss at least the first four games.Non-football injury or illness (NFI): For injuries sustained outside team activities — like those from college — players also must sit out a minimum of four games.Injured Reserve (IR): Teams can place two players on IR at cutdown and designate them to return after four games. Any others must first make the 53-man roster, then be moved to IR the next day to be eligible for return. Players placed on IR before or on cutdown day without return designation are out for the year.Waiver claim order for 2025 NFL roster cutsThe waiver order for 2025 is based on the original NFL Draft order (pre-trade). Here are the teams with first claim priority: Full 2025 NFL waiver claim order for roster cutdown day: Also read: Why Dave Portnoy is banned from Ohio State stadium for Fox Big Noon Kickoff debutAs roster cuts shake up the NFL landscape, the waiver wire gives lower-ranked teams a prime chance to strengthen their depth ahead of the 2025 season.