<P> Waivers are a National Football League (NFL) labor management procedure by which a team makes an American football player's contract or NFL rights (such as NFL draft rights to an unsigned player) available to all other teams . During the season (starting July 4 and lasting through the regular season), each team has 24 hours to file a claim for a player that another team has made available through the system or waive the right to do so . During the off season each team has several days to file such claims . Claiming teams are assigned the rights to or contracts via a priority system based on inverse order of record . Players that pass through waivers unclaimed become free agents . Waiver claims are irrevocable . </P> <P> NFL clubs are prohibited from contacting waived players until the player has been released by the club after passing waivers . </P>

What does it mean to waive a player nfl