With the preseason officially over, the Jets move to the next stage on the NFL calendar, the cuts.

When is cutdown day?

Teams need to cut their rosters from 80 down to 53 players by 4:00 pm Eastern on Tuesday.

When will we know the cuts?

Cuts will leak in at various intervals over the next two days. They could begin today. As players are notified, they and their agents will inform reporters. The Jets will officially announce their cuts sometime after 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. It usually comes a couple of hours after the formal deadline. As you can imagine teams will work the phones trying to trade players on the chopping block to try and get some compensation in return rather than losing them for nothing.

What happens to players who are cut?

A player with more than 4 years of NFL experience immediately becomes a free agent. He has no contract and is free to sign with any other team.

A player with less than 4 years of NFL experience has to go through the waiver process. The other 31 teams are all given a chance to claim the player.

If a team claims a player, they receive him under his current contract.

What if more than one team claims a player?

In order to help bad teams improve, the team that had the highest pick in last year’s NFL Draft is awarded the player.

A few weeks into the season, the waiver priority ceases to be determined by the Draft order and becomes based on record. Worse teams get the higher priority.

What if nobody claims a player?

The player is said to have “cleared waivers” and then becomes a free agent, eligible to sign with any of the 32 teams or their practice squads.

So the Jets can sign players who spent the preseason with another team to their practice squad?

Yes, and players who were with the Jets in preseason can sign with other teams’ practice squads. Practice squads are composed of free agents who are signed.