Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
As the NFL scrambles to cut its team rosters from the 90 or 91-man offseason limit to the initial 53-man active roster, some clubs may be looking to add talent.
The New Orleans Saints were rumored to have been looking into the running back market and are dealing with a host of injuries in the offensive line. With teams letting go of young players that could head to the waiver system, the Saints are well-positioned to put in waiver claims and see if anything comes through.
The waiver system in the NFL works a lot like what many expect from fantasy football. (One was created to mimic the other, after all.) When a young player (non-vested veteran) is waived, that player becomes available for teams to claim rather than entering free agency and choosing where they would like to sign.
The claims are broken out by a priority order which, for the first three weeks of the season, is the same as the original draft order from the most recent selection process. That means this year, the Saints are No. 9 in the order of waiver priority. A top-ten landing spot for the organization is a good one.
- Tennessee Titans
- Cleveland Browns
- New York Giants
- New England Patriots
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Las Vegas Raiders
- New York Giants
- Carolina Panthers
- New Orleans Saints
- Chicago Bears
In this instance, let’s say that the Saints were interested in trying to land recently waived Denver Broncos running back Audric Estime. The second-year back still has three years (including 2025) on his rookie deal and is a solid rusher between the tackles that can work through contact.
Should the Saints and Bears be the two highest teams to claim him, Estime would be awarded to the Saints. However, should the Browns join the mix, assuming the Titans don’t as well, the Browns would be the highest priority and therefore Estime would be on his way to Cleveland.
Waiver claims during roster cuts don’t happen as often as many believe they do.
Out of 851 players cut yesterday as identified by OTC, only 24 were claimed off waivers. That’s 2.82%.
A regular lesson for fans to learn when they’re worried about their favorite fringe roster players on their favorite team being lost to waivers is just how rare it happens.
— Nick Korte (@nickkorte) August 30, 2023
However, when a team has needs or interests and has a high priority like New Orleans does, there’s always a chance to get in the mix.
