NFL Waiver Wire Tracker: Cut-Day Casualties Hit the Market
Teams have until 1 p.m. ET Monday to file claims on cut-down survivors, with the Raiders holding top priority in the season's first waiver order.
Landing spot decides everything — track his claim before adding.
- Waiver deadline: 1 p.m. ET Monday, Aug. 31
- Raiders hold No. 1 waiver priority
- Tillman: 21 rec, 270 yds, 2 TD in 2025 (13 games)
- Browning: 6 TD, 8 INT over 5 games in 2025
- First order mirrors the 2026 NFL Draft slotting
The NFL's 53-man deadline has come and gone, which means the roster math flipped overnight from subtraction to addition. All 32 teams are trimmed, hundreds of veterans and draft picks are suddenly available, and the first waiver claims of 2026 are due by 1 p.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 31. Whoever a team lands depends entirely on where they sit in the pecking order.
That order matters more than usual right now because it mirrors the 2026 draft slotting. The Raiders own the No. 1 priority, so any claim they file gets rubber-stamped, with the Jets, Cardinals, Titans and Giants rounding out the top five. If two teams want the same player, the higher-slotted club wins — simple as that.
Who's Actually Worth Watching
The early names on the wire are mostly depth pieces, but a few carry fantasy relevance depending on where they land. Cedric Tillman is the headliner. He posted 21 catches for 270 yards and two touchdowns across 13 games in 2025 (60 PPR points), and he sits at WR95 — #272 overall — in our current rankings. His recent form ran 1.9 fantasy points below his season average, so this is a volume-and-opportunity bet, not a proven producer.
Behind him, the running back names are the ones to file away. Trey Benson and Jaydon Blue both hit the market — Blue logged just 129 rushing yards and a score over five games in 2025 (20 PPR points, RB86 in our rankings). Marquez Valdes-Scantling is here too, a deep-league dart at best after 14 grabs for 120 yards last year (WR127). And Jake Browning, our QB46, offers nothing beyond an injury-contingency stash after throwing eight picks against six touchdowns in five 2025 appearances.
The truth about cut-day claims is that the player barely matters until the destination does. A backup wideout claimed into a thin depth chart is a very different asset than one buried behind three starters. So the smart move is to watch the claims resolve, not to burn a roster spot on speculation.
For fantasy managers: don't panic-add anyone off this list yet. Tillman is the one name worth actively tracking — if he's claimed somewhere with a clear runway to snaps, he becomes a late-round or waiver-day dart. Everyone else here is a monitor-only situation until we know the landing spot and the role. Let the dust settle Monday afternoon, then pounce.
