Current:Home > StocksWhen is the NFL's roster cut deadline? Date, time -TradeBridge
When is the NFL's roster cut deadline? Date, time
View
Date:2025-04-17 03:30:00
All NFL preseason games are over, and with it, the last chances for players on the fringes of all 32 teams' rosters to prove themselves worthy of a spot. It's decision time for NFL front offices.
Each NFL team must trim its roster down to its final, 53-man allowance ahead of the start of the regular season. With every team allowed a maximum of 90 rostered players in the offseason, some tough decisions are ahead for some teams to get under the threshold. Several notable players have and will continue to be released, waived, traded or placed on the injured reserve.
Though the NFL regular season still does not start for another week and a half, the roster cut deadline is this week. Make sure to follow USA TODAY's live coverage of the cut deadline for all of the latest news on important moves.
NFL ROSTER CUTS:Live updates on notable moves ahead of Tuesday's deadline
When do NFL teams need to cut to 53-man roster?
The 53-man roster cut deadline is Tuesday, Aug. 27 at 4 p.m. ET.
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
Teams then have until noon ET the following day (Wednesday, Aug. 28) to make waiver claims on players that have been released as part of final cuts.
FANTASY FOOTBALL:How to win your fantasy football league in 2024? Sign up for The Huddle
"Released" vs. "waived" meanings
Released: Veteran NFL players with careers of four years or longer can be released. This means they hit free agency immediately and can negotiate and sign with any interested team.
Waived: NFL players with a career of fewer than four years are not immediately released. Instead, they are placed on waivers, allowing the other 31 teams to place a waiver claim on said players. Waiver order, like the first round of the draft, is in reverse order of the previous year's standings.
Should a player go unclaimed on the waiver system, he becomes a free agent. Like with released players, the unclaimed, waived player may then negotiate and sign with any interested team.
How many players can be on a practice squad?
Often, released or waived players sign with a practice squad – either that of the team that released/waived them or that of another team. Practice squad players do not count toward a team's 53-man roster allowance.
Each team is allowed up to 17 players on a practice squad.
As the name suggests, these players most often serve as extra help during practice as part of a scout team throughout the regular season and postseason. They may also be promoted to the main roster or sign with another team's 53-man squad as extra reinforcement at any point during the season.
NFL SCHEDULE:When is Week 1 of the NFL season? Full slate for regular season opening games
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- 2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
- New satellite will 'name and shame' large-scale polluters, by tracking methane gas emissions
- Horoscopes Today, March 4, 2024
- Dakota Johnson Shares Her Outlook on Motherhood Amid Chris Martin Romance
- Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
- Kristin Cavallari, Mark Estes and the sexist relationship age gap discourse
- Spanish tourist camping with her husband is gang raped in India; 3 arrested as police search for more suspects
- Vegans swear by nutritional yeast. What is it?
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Why Kate Winslet Says Ozempic Craze “Sounds Terrible”
Ranking
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Do you know these famous Aries signs? 30 celebrities with birthdays under the Zodiac sign
- Julianne Hough Shares How She Supported Derek Hough and His Wife Hayley Erbert Amid Health Scare
- Miami Beach is breaking up with spring break — or at least trying to
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- New lawsuit blames Texas' Smokehouse Creek fire on power company
- Luann de Lesseps and Mary-Kate Olsen's Ex Olivier Sarkozy Grab Lunch in NYC
- The EU fines Apple nearly $2 billion for hindering music streaming competition
Recommendation
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
Never send a boring email again: How to add a signature (and photo) in Outlook
A revelatory exhibition of Mark Rothko paintings on paper
Toyota, Jeep, Hyundai and Ford among 1.4 million vehicles recalled: Check car recalls here
The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
Get 55% off Fresh Skincare, 68% off Kate Spade Bags, Plus Nab JBL Earbuds for $29 & More Today Only Deals
5 people dead after single-engine plane crashes along Nashville interstate: What we know
Denver Broncos' Russell Wilson posts heartfelt goodbye after being released