As the San Francisco 49ers begin their final roster cuts today, something needs to be made apparent for the next couple of days: they are second on the waiver wire. That means behind the Arizona Cardinals, they have the pick of the NFL.
Kyle has a good post explaining how things work here. The key thing to get out of this is what I already said: The 49ers are second on the waiver wire. This means any players with less than four years of service are ripe for the picking.
In previous years, we’ve seen the 49ers active on the waiver wire. In 2017, they were also second on the wire. Things are a bit different this time around. In 2017, they were looking for someone, anyone to help this team, given they were coming off a Trent Baalke decimated roster. In 2019, they have things under control but that No. 2 priority is mighty nice.
Remember, the No. 1 team (the Cardinals) can claim as many players as they want and they retain priority. The Cardinals essentially get first dibs on every player. They will stay in that position through Week 3 of the regular season. When they pass on a player, the 49ers get priority, followed by the New York Jets and so forth.
We’ll be keeping an eye on roster cuts the rest of today. The 53-man rosters will be reached by then, but then there will be further turnover as teams make waiver claims.