Update: Tracking the Chiefs waiver wire and practice squad here
The Kansas City Chiefs cut 19 players from the team on Saturday but they weren't the only ones. Teams across the league made their cuts to move from 75 to 53 players on the their rosters. This means that there are a whole bunch of players who are now hitting the waiver wire and could be claimed by other teams. The waiver wire process starts at 11 a.m. (Arrowhead Time).
More: Chiefs 53-man roster | Chiefs roster cuts
Wait, what's the waiver wire?
The waiver wire is a system that allows each team in the league to have a chance to claim a player that is cut. The worse the team was the year before, the higher priority they are on the waiver wire.
Who is eligible for waivers?
Anyone with less than four years of service time in the NFL. Most of the players cut this weekend have less than four years.
What is the waiver wire order?
It goes in reverse draft order, which you can see here. The team with the worst record in the league has the top priority while the team with the best has the lowest. So if both the Raiders (No. 4 on waiver wire) and Chiefs (No. 18) made a claim on a player, the Raiders would get the player. And yes, we would then feel sorry for that player for having to go to Oakland.
Note: After three weeks into the season, the waiver wire order reverts to the current NFL standings. But for now it's the initial 2015 draft order.
What happens if a player isn't claimed by anyone?
Then they become a free agent. For many players cut by the Chiefs on Saturday, if they pass through waivers unclaimed the Chiefs will sign them to their practice squad, which can be created at 12 p.m. (Arrowhead Time) today. I bet that the Chiefs first practice squad will be made up mostly of the players on list of Chiefs roster cuts.
I still don't get it.
Let's use Mike Catapano as an example. The Chiefs cut him on Saturday. Because he has less than four years in the league, he is subject to waivers. Every team in the league now has an opportunity to put a claim in on him before Sunday's 11 a.m. (Arrowhead Time) deadline. If one team puts a claim in on him, they get him and his contract. If more than one team does, the team with the higher waiver wire priority -- the team that had the worse record the year before - would have the rights to him.
Will other teams claim Chiefs cuts?
Potentially. When you cut someone and they're signed by another team, that's the sign of a deep team. Hopefully the Chiefs are getting to that point. I could see DE Mike Catapano, WRs Fred Williams or Da'Ron Brown or even OT Jarrod Pughsley signed by another team. Here are the Chiefs roster cuts that other teams can claim. We shall see.
The Chiefs can claim other teams players
This works the other way too. Go back to this weekend in 2013, Andy Reid and John Dorsey's first in Kansas City. The Chiefs set their 53-man roster on Saturday. The deadline for waivers was Sunday. The Chiefs had the top waiver priority because they owned the No. 1 pick that year. The Chiefs then claimed a whopping SEVEN players off waivers on this day, which resulted in them having to cut seven Chiefs who had just made the 53-man roster the day before. Several of those players, including Ron Parker, Jaye Howard, Marcus Cooper and Dezman Moses, are still with the Chiefs today. It is one of Dorsey's finest moments as the Chiefs GM.
So be on the lookout for the Chiefs to claim available players. I can guarantee you they won't be claiming seven players as they did in 2013. That's not only because the Chiefs have the 18th spot on the waiver wire this year as opposed to the top spot back then but also because the Chiefs are a much deeper team now. It's harder to find someone off the street that's better than what they have now.