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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Dan Benton

NFL waiver wire: Where do Giants rank in waiver priority?

Giants NFL New York Giants Joe Schoen

The 2023 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. ET 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.

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A year ago, Schoen and the Giants made seven total waiver claims and were awarded four players — safety Jason Pinnock, defensive backs Nick McCloud and Justin Layne, and offensive lineman Jack Anderson.

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

Any player who is added to injured reserve prior to the initial 53-man roster being set (4:00 p.m. ET Tuesday) will miss the entire season.

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. ET on Wednesday.

Any players who land on IR or the reserve/football injury list as of Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. ET or any date later must miss a minimum of four games before they are permitted to return.

NFL teams can return up to eight players 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 prior to 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.

Practice squad rules

NFL teams are permitted to carry up to 16 players on their practice squad in 2023.

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 16 players (filling out their practice squad) who fall under the “standard” designation if they choose to.