Rarely is the NFL waiver wire order in sharp focus. While teams regularly claim players off of the waiver wire, it is rare a player is talented enough to leave fans of multiple teams questioning whether their team has the chance to claim him or not.
That has all changed this week with the release of Odell Beckham Jr. by the Cleveland Browns. Beckham will be placed onto waivers Monday, with the team potentially claiming him becoming known by 4 PM ET on Tuesday. Let’s take a look at the waiver wire order heading into Week 10 of the 2021 NFL season.
What is the NFL waiver wire order entering Week 10?
The NFL does not publicly publish its full waiver order. They also do not offer clear guidance on how the waiver order is decided outside of saying “inverse order of their win-loss record.” This has led to a number of different outlets claiming different waiver wires. Some utilize the current projected draft order, while others do it slightly differently.
The problem with using the current projected draft order is that they naturally include playoff scenarios and projections. For example, the current draft order has the Falcons selecting below a number of AFC teams. That is because they are currently in possession of the seven seed in the NFC.
However, their 4-4 record is actually worse than 11 AFC teams. Therefore, it seems incorrect that the Falcons would be below those AFC teams who have a better record in the current waiver order.
The fact the NFL describes it as the “inverse order of their win-loss record” would suggest it is not the same as the projected NFL Draft order. With that in mind, let’s take a look at what the current waiver order may look like.
Week 10 NFL waiver order
1. Detroit Lions (0-8)
2. Houston Texans (1-8)
3. Miami Dolphins (2-7)
4. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6)*
5. New York Jets (2-6)*
6. Washington Football Team (2-6)*
7. Philadelphia Eagles (3-6)*
8. Chicago Bears (3-6)*#
9. New York Giants (3-6)*#
10. San Francisco 49ers (3-5)*
11. Seattle Seahawks (3-5)*
12. Minnesota Vikings (3-5)*
13. Carolina Panthers (4-5)*
14. Indianapolis Colts (4-5)*
15. Atlanta Falcons (4-4)
16. Cincinnati Bengals (5-4)*#
17. New England Patriots (5-4)*#
18. Denver Broncos (5-4)*
19. Cleveland Browns (5-4)*
20. Kansas City Chiefs (5-4)*
21. Buffalo Bills (5-3)*
22. Las Vegas Raiders (5-3)*
23. New Orleans Saints (5-3)*
24. Los Angeles Chargers (5-3)*
25. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3)*
26. Baltimore Ravens (6-2)*
27. Dallas Cowboys (6-2)*
28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2)*
29. Los Angeles Rams (7-2)*
30. Green Bay Packers (7-2)*
31. Tennessee Titans (7-2)*
32. Arizona Cardinals (8-1)
*ties broken based on league standings tiebreakers
#will be subject to coin flip