Dallas Cowboys General

NFL Waiver Wire Order 2016: Dallas Cowboys Have 4th Overall Priority On Waiver Wire

If the Cowboys want to grab a player off waivers, they have a better chance of getting that player than most other teams.

By One Cool Customer@OCC44 Sep 4, 2016, 10:15am CDT

The claiming period for players placed on waivers during the final cut to the 53-man rosters across the league will expire at 12:00 noon EST today. If the Cowboys have put in any waiver claims, which we assume they have, chances are good they'll be awarded they players they claimed.

Here's the NFL's explanation of how the waiver wire system works:

Once a club waives a player, the 31 other clubs either file a claim to obtain him or they waive their chance to do so (thus the origin of the term "waiver"). Clubs are assigned players on a priority basis.

From the first business day after the Super Bowl until the day after the third regular season week, assignments are based on a claiming order that is the same as the order in which clubs selected in that year’s Draft. From the beginning of the fourth regular season weekend through the Super Bowl, assignments are based on the inverse order of their win-loss record.

Once the waiver period starts each year through the trading deadline, a vested veteran — a player who has acquired four years of pension credit — is not subject to the waiver system if the club decides to release him.

That means if a team decides to release a vested veteran, the league considers his contract to be terminated immediately and he is free to negotiate and sign with any other club.

This year, the Cowboys are in an excellent position on the waiver wire, thanks to their 4-12 finish last year. If the Cowboys are going to claim anyone off of waivers, they'll have a pretty good shot. The waiver wire pecking order is the original NFL Draft (prior to all the subsequent trades and forfeited draft picks), and the Cowboys come in at #4 overall. We'll see if they can use that to their advantage today.

1. Tennessee Titans

2. Cleveland Browns

3. San Diego Chargers

4. Dallas Cowboys

5. Jacksonville Jaguars

6. Baltimore Ravens

7. San Francisco 49ers

8. Miami Dolphins

9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

10. New York Giants

11. Chicago Bears

12. New Orleans Saints