NFL waiver wire: Where do Giants rank in waiver priority?
The 2024 NFL regular season is just around the corner but before things kick off, teams are required to trim their rosters down to 53 men. That deadline looms at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.
General manager Joe Schoen will certainly be busy because not only does he have to make in-house personnel decisions, but he also has to determine what (if any) waived or released players to claim or attempt to sign.
A year ago, Schoen and the Giants made several claims but weren't awarded a single player. They also did not have a single player claimed off of waivers. This year promises to be different.
There is no doubt the Giants will do a little roster shuffling after the initial 53-man roster is established, so below is a look at the waiver order and several key rules to keep in mind over the next 24-36 hours.
Waiver wire rules
There is often confusion when it comes to the differences between players who have been waived, waived/injured, cut/released, and had their contracts terminated.
Players with less than four accrued NFL seasons are subject to waivers, while those with four or more accrued seasons are cut/released and considered unrestricted free agents. They are free to sign with any team immediately.
Any player with fewer than four accrued NFL seasons becomes subject to waivers for 24 hours and can not sign with a team unless they go unclaimed.
To achieve an accrued season, a player must have full-play status in a minimum of six games during an individual season.
Players who are waived/injured are subject to the traditional waiver rules. However, if they go unclaimed they immediately revert to the team's injured/reserve list. Those players can subsequently be released with an injury settlement and are not permitted to re-sign with the club that waived them for six weeks plus the duration of the agreed-upon injury settlement.
Any player who is awarded to a team off of waivers is required to be placed on the 53-man roster (initially).
There is no limit to how many waiver claims a team can put in.
Injured reserve rules
Most players who are added to injured reserve before the initial 53-man roster is set (4:00 p.m. EDT Tuesday) will miss the entire season. However, the NFL has added a small exception this year. Teams are now permitted to designate a maximum of two players to return from IR before the 53-man roster is set.
If more than two players are placed on IR before the 53-man roster is set, all additional non-designated players will miss the entire season.
Outside of those two, if a player does not have a season-ending injury, they must first be named to the 53-man roster and then placed on IR or the reserve/non-football injury list beginning at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.
Any players who land on IR or the reserve/football injury list as of Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. EDT or any later date must miss a minimum of four games before they are permitted to return.
NFL teams can return up to eight players (not including the exempt two outlined above) from IR during the regular season.
Physically unable to perform (PUP) list
Any player who was added to the physically unable to perform (PUP) list before the start of training camp, and who sat out all camp while on the list, is permitted to begin the 2023 regular season on PUP.
Players on the PUP list do not count against a team's 53-man roster and they must miss at least the first four games of the season.
Once a player on PUP begins practicing, the team will have a three-week window to determine whether or not to activate them. If the player is not activated during that window, they are required to miss the remainder of the season.
A player can not be placed on PUP if they took part in a single practice or took even one snap in a preseason game.
Practice squad rules
NFL teams are permitted to carry up to 17 players on their practice squad in 2024 if one of those has an international exemption (16 otherwise).
Every player who becomes a free agent is eligible to join a team's practice squad but there are rules for each category of eligible player, including practice squad limits.
Here is a breakdown from The 33rd Team:
1. Standard: A player must be a rookie or first-year man who has not earned an accrued season (four games on the active roster). If he has one or more years of accrued seasons, he’s still eligible if he was not on the game day active list for nine games in every year he earned an accrued season.
2. Exception: A player is eligible as an exception if he has two or fewer accrued seasons, even though he was active for nine games in any of those two accrued seasons. A team may have no more than 10 exceptions on their practice squad at any one time.
3. Veterans: Any player not covered as a standard-eligible or exception-eligible is considered a veteran. A club may have no more than six veterans on their practice squad at any time.
A team can sign 17 players (filling out their practice squad) who fall under the "standard" designation if they choose to.
Practice squad salary
Practice squad players are compensated on a scale system.
Players who have accrued two or fewer NFL seasons are paid a fixed, weekly salary every year through the expiration of the current CBA.
Year/Weekly salary
2022 - $11,500
2023 - $12,000
2024 - $12,500
2025 - $13,000
2026 - $13,750
2027 - $14,500
2028 - $15,250
2029, $16,000
2030 - $16,750
Veteran players with three or more seasons have some negotiation room.
Year/Minimum salary/Max salary
2022 - $15,400 - $19,900
2023 - $16,100 - $20,600
2024 - $16,800 - $21,300
2025 - $17,500 - $22,000
2026 - $18,350 - $22,850
2027 - $19,200 - $23,700
2028 - $20,900 - $25,400
2029 - $20,900 - $25,400
2030 - $21,750 - $26,250
Waiver wire order
The current waiver wire order is determined by 2023 records and the 2024 NFL draft order (pre-trades). It is as follows:
Carolina Panthers
Washington Commanders
New England Patriots
Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Chargers
Tennessee Titans
Atlanta Falcons
Chicago Bears
New York Jets
Minnesota Vikings
Denver Broncos
Las Vegas Raiders
New Orleans Saints
Indianapolis Colts
Seattle Seahawks
Jacksonville Jaguars
Cincinnati Bengals
Los Angeles Rams
Pittsburgh Steelers
Miami Dolphins
Philadelphia Eagles
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Green Bay Packers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Houston Texans
Buffalo Bills
Detroit Lions
Baltimore Ravens
San Francisco 49ers
Kansas City Chiefs
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: NFL waiver wire: Where do Giants rank in waiver priority?
