It stays the same the entire season. Even if a team makes 53 claims.
Important Deadlines
Tuesday, August 30 — 4 p.m. ET — Every team must have their roster down to 53 players.
Additionally, this is the deadline to place any player currently on active/PUP or active/NFI on reserve/PUP or reserve/NFI, meaning they will miss at least the first four games of the season. If they are not moved to the reserve list, they are considered “active” players on the 53-man roster with no injury designation—or a team can cut them.
Reminder: No player may be moved to the reserve/PUP or NFI list if they are not already on the active/PUP or NFI.
Wednesday, August 31 — Noon ET — Teams must have their waiver claims in for players waived in the cutdown from 80 to 53.
Around noon, teams will be notified if they were awarded any players off waiver. Once those notices are sent out, teams can start to sign players to their 16-man practice squad.
Wednesday, August 31 — 4 p.m. ET — Teams can start to place players on their 53-man roster on IR with an eligibility to return after a minimum of four games. Any player placed on IR before this deadline will be lost for the entire season.
This is important for the
Detroit Lions because it means if they plan on placing players like Levi Onwuzurike, Julian Okwara or Ifeatu Melifonwu on IR but want them back later this year, they’ll not only have to make the 53-man roster, but they’ll have to stick on the roster through the first round of waiver claims as well.
Throughout the offseason, waive wire priority is determined by draft order (prior to trades). So for the 2021 offseason, the Lions had the seventh-highest priority.
HOWEVER, waiver wire priority changes in the season. After Week 3 of the regular season, waiver-wire priority matches the current NFL standings. So teams with the worst record will have the highest priority.
After the trade deadline...
When the trade deadline passes—which is November 2 in 2021—every player that is cut must go through waivers, even veterans with more than four years of experience.