Pride of Detroit
While NFL roster cuts have all been made for the 2025 season, that is only one step in finalizing a 53-man roster. With over 1,000 players no longer employed, NFL teams will spend 24 or more hours perusing the list of players to add to both their 53-man roster and their practice squad. Things get underway on Wednesday afternoon, and considering the Detroit Lions’ initial roster only sits at 50 players, expect Wednesday to be an active day for them.
So here’s a little reminder of how the second step in roster management works during cutdown week.
When cut, a player is either “waived” or “released.” If a player has four or more “credited seasons”* in the NFL, they are considered a veteran and are released, meaning they are not subject to waivers and can sign anywhere they please immediately.
If a player has fewer than four credited season, they are waived. This means they must go on the waiver wire, where any team can claim put in a waiver claim for them, pick up their current contract, and go immediately to their 53-man roster.
If you look at the Lions’ roster cuts list, they have designated 29 players as waived:
*A “credited season” means a player has been on a 53-man roster for at least three games. If a player receives full pay for a season but is not on the 53-man roster (ie: on IR) that also counts toward a credited season.
During roster cuts, teams have until 12 p.m. ET on Wednesday to put in a waiver claim for any players who were waived by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. When the clock hits noon, the NFL will go through every waiver claim and award players to teams who put in claims. If more than one team put in a claim for the same player, the team with the highest waiver priority will be awarded the player.
How is priority determined?
At this point in the offseason, priority is based on last year’s record, or the 2025 NFL Draft order (prior to trades). The worst NFL team (Titans) have the highest priority, and the best (Eagles) has the lowest. The Lions are 28th in waiver...
