One of the toughest days of each NFL season is behind us.
Cutdown day.
The 32 NFL clubs had until 6:00 p.m. Eastern on Sunday night to trim their rosters down to 53 players. That meant that more than 1,000 hopefuls received some bad news over the weekend.
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But for many of those players, this is not the end of their NFL journey, but rather a bump in the road. Players will be signed to practice squads, and others to active rosters, over the coming days and weeks.
For those players with less than four accrued seasons in the league, they now head to waivers. Players with four or more years of accrued service become free agents, and are free to sign with any team. But for those players subject to waivers, they are now governed by the league’s waiver process, including the waiver order.
Under NFL rules, for the first three weeks of the season the waiver order is determined by last season’s draft order. Once we reach Week 4, the waiver order will be determined by the current standings, in reverse order. That means the Las Vegas Raiders sit in the No. 1 spot, followed by the New York Jets, and on down the line. If two teams put in a claim on a player, the team listed first in the order will secure the rights to that player.
So for now, here is the waiver order as the 2026 NFL season begins. The first waivers will be announced on Monday, August 31.
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1. Las Vegas Raiders
2. New York Jets
3. Arizona Cardinals
4. Tennessee Titans
5. New York Giants
6. Cleveland Browns
7. Washington Commanders
8. New Orleans Saints
9. Kansas City Chiefs
10. Cincinnati Bengals
11. Miami Dolphins
12. Dallas Cowboys
13. Atlanta Falcons
14. Baltimore Ravens
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16. Indianapolis Colts
17. Detroit Lions
18. Minnesota Vikings
19. Carolina Panthers
20. Green Bay Packers
21. Pittsburgh Steelers
22. Los Angeles Chargers
23. Philadelphia Eagles
24. Jacksonville Jaguars
25. Chicago Bears
26. Buffalo Bills
27. Houston Texans
28. San Francisco 49ers
29. Los Angeles Rams
30. Denver Broncos
31. New England Patriots
32. Seattle Seahawks
