You can claim players in fantasy football mainly through the waiver process, which typically happens at the start of each week after the previous week's games have ended. Waiver claims usually process daily between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. Eastern Time (ET), often late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, depending on your league settings. Here’s the typical workflow:
- After players are dropped or become free agents following their NFL game kickoff (Thursday, Sunday, or Monday), they are placed on waivers for a set period.
- During the waiver period, team managers can submit claims to add players.
- Waiver claims are processed once daily, awarding the player to the team with the highest waiver priority.
- After waivers process, unclaimed players become free agents who can be added immediately on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Once a player's NFL game starts for that week, they are locked and cannot be added until the next waiver period.
This process ensures fairness and equal opportunity to claim players across all teams in the league. The waiver priority resets weekly and changes dynamically as claims are awarded.
