The Washington Commanders have to cut their roster down to 53 players by Sunday’s 6 p.m. deadline. That means 38 players will either be released, traded, or placed on an injury list as the team prepares for the start of the season, a division game agaibst the Eagles in Philadelphia.
FanDuel Week 1 Odds
Washington +5.5 , 46.5 O/U
Commanders +134
Eagles -235
Most spots on the roster are already known, with only a few spots left to determine by depth needs a d special teams contributions. The Commanders
played the Ravens last night in the preseason finale and had 41 players inactive.
If not claimed by another team, after noon on Wednesday they are eligible to be a part of Washington’s 17-man practice squad.
Which Washington Commanders are subject to waivers?
RB Kaytron Allen
CB Trey Amos
DT Ricky Barber
DE Boogie Basham
WR Jaden Bradley
T Brandon Coleman
T Josh Conerly Jr.
DT Byron Cowart
RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt
QB Jayden Daniels
CB Fred Davis II
OL Julian Good-Jones
C Matt Gulbin
QB Sam Hartman
RB Robert Henry Jr.
OL Trey Hill
DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste
DE D.J. Johnson
S Quindell Johnson
WR Jacoby Jones
DE Joshua Josephs
LB Ale Kaho
QB Athan Kaliakmanis
S Qwuantrezz Knight
WR Jaylin Lane
LB Jordan Magee
DE T.J. Maguranyanga
S Quan Martin
DT Jeffrey M’ba
WR Luke McCaffrey
TE Tre’ McKitty
LB Kain Medrano
TE Quentin Moore
WR Nick Nash
DT Jer’Zhan Newton
S Tyler Owens
OL Nicholas Petit-Frere
CB Darius Rush
CB Mike Sainristil
TE Ben Sinnott
K Drew Stevens
LB Sonny Styles
OL Tanoa Togiai
CB Car’lin Vigers
WR Antonio Williams
TE Colson Yankoff
How waivers work in the NFL?
When a player is ‘waived’, he is subject to the waiver wire, where any team can claim him and assume his current contract. Currently, the waiver wire order (listed below) is dependent on the NFL Draft order from this past April, but without any trades.
Every team that is interested in acquiring a player will file its waiver claim at the same time, but only the team with the highest claim will successfully ‘claim’ the player and his current contract.
Which NFL players are subject to waivers?
Whether or not a player enters the waiver wire or becomes a free agent depends on a player’s NFL service time. Six games active in a season earns a player an accrued season. Players with at least four years of accrued NFL service time are released outright. In this case, the player’s contract ends, he immediately becomes an unrestricted free agent and is eligible to sign with any team.
However, as described above, if a player has less than four years of service time, he is subject to waiver wire claims. Any player who is not claimed after being waived is eligible to sign wherever he’d like, including his former team’s practice squad.
Mainly, the group of players who get waived comprises those who are currently not eligible for unrestricted free agency status entering the year — Exclusive Rights Free Agents (less than three years of service) or Restricted Free Agents (three years of service).
What is the NFL waiver order right now?
The NFL waiver order during the preseason and the first three weeks of the regular season mirrors the 2026 NFL Draft order (absent trades). Once we get through three games, the waiver order resets to the current NFL standings. So, until Week 4, the Raiders have first crack at every player on waivers.
The Washington Commanders had the No. 7 pick in this year’s draft, selecting Ohio State LB Sonny Styles. They will be 7th in the waiver wire list and there will be six teams ahead of them to claim any eligible players that get released over the next month.
- Las Vegas Raiders
- New York Jets
- Arizona Cardinals
- Tennessee Titans
- New York Giants
- Cleveland Browns
- Washington Commanders
- New Orleans Saints
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Miami Dolphins
- Dallas Cowboys
- Atlanta Falcons
- Baltimore Ravens
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Indianapolis Colts
- Detroit Lions
- Minnesota Vikings
- Carolina Panthers
- Green Bay Packers
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Chicago Bears
- Buffalo Bills
- San Francisco 49ers
- Houston Texans
- Los Angeles Rams
- Denver Broncos
- New England Patriots
- Seattle Seahawks
