If you look this up and get a Tuesday, you have found last season’s answer. The NFL moved the date for 2026.
The Dates
| Cutdown to 53 | Sunday, August 30 — 6:00 p.m. ET |
| Waiver claims due | Monday, August 31 — 1:00 p.m. ET |
| Roster goes from | 90 players → 53 |
| Season opens | September 9 |
Why Two Days Matters More Than It Sounds
Cutdown week is the busiest trading and scouting window of the NFL calendar outside the draft. Teams spend the final days comparing depth charts across the league, working out which useful players are about to be released, and lining up trades for players they would otherwise lose for nothing.
Moving the deadline to Sunday compresses all of that. Front offices now have roughly 19 hours between the cutdown and the Monday 1 p.m. waiver deadline to evaluate several hundred newly available players and decide who to claim. In practice that means more of the work happens before cutdown day, and practice squads come together faster.
What Happens to the 37 Players Cut
Roughly 1,100 players league-wide lose their roster spot in a single afternoon. What follows is a specific sequence:
- Waivers. Players with fewer than four accrued seasons are subject to waivers — any team can claim them, in reverse order of last season’s standings.
- Free agency. Vested veterans are not subject to waivers and become free agents immediately.
- Practice squad. Players who clear waivers can be re-signed to the practice squad — often by the same team that just released them.
That last step is why a cut is not necessarily the end. Our breakdown of what NFL players actually earn week to week covers the practice squad pay scale, which is higher than most people assume.
How We Got Here
The path to cutdown day runs through the preseason: the Hall of Fame Game on August 6, then three preseason weeks from August 13 to 29. The final preseason game is effectively the last audition — the cutdown deadline lands the day after the preseason ends.
The quarterback rooms are where the bubble is most visible; our tracker for all 32 starting jobs follows the ones still open.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
When are NFL roster cuts in 2026?
Sunday, August 30 at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Did the deadline change?
Yes — it is two days earlier than the Tuesday date used in recent seasons.
When are waiver claims due?
Monday, August 31 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
How many players get cut?
Each team goes from 90 to 53 — around 37 per team.
Can a cut player come back?
Yes — players who clear waivers are frequently re-signed to the practice squad, often by the same team.
Deadline and waiver times per the NFL’s announced 2026 important dates, via Raiders.com, Seahawks.com, Yahoo Sports and Sports Illustrated, 2026. Photo: NFL players during a training camp practice, via Wikimedia Commons.
