What time do waivers clear on ESPN fantasy football? The entire process explained

Get to know how Waivers work on ESPN fantasy football.

What time do waivers clear on ESPN fantasy football? The entire process explained

Cooper Kupp (Credits: Imago)

Fantasy football is in full force! The week 1 matchup has already started, and the injury storm has already hit many fantasy managers. The injuries will affect plenty of people going forward, considering the extent to which the players stay on the sidelines.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, the Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp, and the New York Giants tight end Darren Waller all have suffered injuries. You can only assemble a good roster in the draft with statistically good players.

YouTube video

However, no one can predict injuries and other off-field issues. Especially if first-round prospects like Kelce and Cupp suffered injury in week 1, it could be a massive blow for their fantasy owners. But a good fantasy manager would have a backup plan for such instances, i.e., waivers and trades. If NFL championships are won by defenses, fantasy football champions are made in waivers.

FS Video

Apart from assembling a good roster, a good manager should also be on the lookout for the best waiver moves. One can never predict which player will have a surprise breakout season. However, someone can always be the first one to claim that breakout player.

If you are a rookie playing on ESPN fantasy football and don’t know how waivers work, look no further. In this article, we will look at how waivers work and at what time the waivers are clear in ESPN fantasy football.

When do the waivers clear in ESPN fantasy football?

The waiver wire is a system used in fantasy football to distribute players who are not a part of anybody’s roster. Each team has a waiver priority order used to decide the order in which they can claim free agents.

So how this works is if you see a free agent you want to add to your team, you can put a waiver claim on that player. After the waiver period ends, if you have the highest priority among the team that has put a waiver claim on that player, you will end up getting that player.

If you don’t get the player, you put a waiver claim, which means you didn’t have the highest priority in waiver rankings. But don’t worry; it usually means you’ll move up one place in the priority rankings if you fail to get the player.

Joe Burrow Urban Patrick Mahomes top 10 quarterbacks Meyer Ohio State Bengals
Joe Burrow (Image via SI)

The waiver process happens every day between 3 am and 5 am ET. After that time, players either clear waivers (nobody claims them) or become free agents. You can pick up unclaimed players on a first-come, first-serve basis without affecting your waiver position.

If you add and drop a player within 24 hours, they become a Free Agent. If a dropped player was on a team for more than 24 hours, they go back to waivers.

When a team wins a waiver claim, they go to the end of the waiver order, and everyone else moves up. This means you’ll be higher on the list for the next time.

FAB waiver order works the same way as non-FAB. Winning a waiver claim puts you at the bottom of the order list.

In case you missed: