Who or what makes the decision that a player is released or waived? My understanding is that a 'released' player is a free agent that all 32 teams can sign. A 'waived' player then has a system in place, I believe, that uses last year’s final standings as who gets first shot at the waived player (eg. The Texans would get first shot if they put in a waiver claim). Can a team waive a player if they know that another team in their division needs that position but has no chance of receiving him because of their record from the previous year?
Harold Freiter
If a player has less than four years of service time and he gets cuts, he is waived and goes through the claims process that you accurately described. After the third week of the season, the process reverts to 2006 records in inverse order. If a player has four or more years of time, then he is released and thus becomes a free agent. The only change to this occurs after the trading deadline, at which point every player is subject to the waiver process. I’m not sure I understand your question about the division. If a team wants to release a player it’s not likely going to be affected by another team’s needs. Like Belichick always says, he’s going to do what’s in the best interest of his team. He’s not going to worry about another team. And whether a player is waived or released there’s no way of knowing for sure which team, if any, are going to claim him.
Paul Perillo
