56. What are waivers?
It's a temporary status for players who are released by their team. A player released between August 15th and the end of the regular season stays on waivers for 48 hours. A player released at any other time stays on waivers for seven days. During the waiver period other teams may claim a waived player. If more than one team tries to claim the player, the team with the worst record gets him. If a player on waivers is claimed, the new team acquires his existing contract and pays the remainder of his salary. There is also a fee of $1,000, payable to the league office, for claiming a waived player.
A team can claim a waived player only if one of the following is true:
- The team is far enough under the salary cap to fit the player's entire salary.
- The team has a Disabled Player exception for at least the player's salary (see question number 19).
- The team has a Traded Player exception for at least the player's salary (see question number 72).
- The player's contract is for one or two seasons and he is paid the minimum salary.
If no team claims a waived player, he is said to have "cleared waivers." The player may sign with a new team of his choice, and the player's prior team continues to pay the guaranteed portion of the terminated contract (see question number
94 for more information). The player's salary with his new team is a matter of negotiation. Few players are actually claimed while on waivers, since the team claiming a waived player inherits his entire contract. It is far more common for teams to wait for the player to clear waivers, and then sign him to a much smaller (even minimum salary) contract.
If a player is waived after March 1, he is ineligible to be included in the playoff roster of any team that signs him for the remainder of that season.
If a team trades a player and the player is waived by the receiving team, the player's original team cannot re-sign that player for 30 days (during the season) or 20 days (during the offseason) following the date of the trade.
Once a player has cleared waivers, his prior team cannot trade the player (including sign-and-trade).
