In fantasy football, a waiver claim is a process by which team owners can select players who are not currently on a league roster. These players may have been undrafted or dropped by other owners. Waivers put temporary freezes on unclaimed players, giving everyone a chance to make a claim on them. When this time period ends, all waiver claims are processed, and the manager with the highest waiver priority gets the player.
Heres how the waiver claim process typically works:
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Waiver Period: A specified amount of time is set for teams to put a claim on a player. This period can vary depending on the league settings.
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Claim Submission: Team owners can submit their claims for the desired player during the waiver period. If multiple claims are submitted for a player, the claim is resolved based on the waiver position of each involved team.
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Waiver Priority: Each team has a waiver priority, which is a relative power when selecting a player off the waiver wire. The team with the best waiver position (closer to 1) will be awarded the player if multiple teams request the same player during waivers.
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Waiver Clearing: After the waiver period ends, the waivers are processed, and the team with the highest waiver priority that claimed the player will receive them. The player is then added to the team's roster, and their waiver priority is changed to the lowest possible priority (e.g., 10).
If a player clears waivers, it means that no team has claimed them, and they become a free agent. Free agents are available for any team to add to their roster without going through the waiver claim process.