Welcome back — training camp is under way. Today’s question comes from Brad Johnson:
Q: What is the advantage in waiving a player before placing him on injured reserve vs. placing him directly on injured reserve without waiving him? Do teams save money somehow?
A: Brad, you touch on something you don’t see very often.
The Broncos wanted to put safety Josh Barrett on injured reserve Friday because of a shoulder injury — he has suffered two shoulder dislocations and had two shoulder surgeries during his collegiate career at Arizona State. But league rules require players who aren’t vested veterans — those who do not have four accrued seasons of service time — pass through waivers before being moved to injured reserve before the first roster cutdown.
This year the first roster cut date is Aug. 31, when rosters must be trimmed from 80 to 75 players.
The rule was instituted to keep teams from stashing players, especially young ones early on the developmental curve, on injured reserve. Barrett is entering his third season, having accrued two seasons worth of service time toward his pension, so he had to clear waivers.
Most of the time, players pass through waivers and aren’t claimed. It’s one of those formalities everybody in the league follows. The feeling is if you claim somebody, people will start claiming your guys as well when you want to move them to injured reserve.
But, by rule, Barrett could be claimed at this point in training camp. So, the transaction is routinely listed as a player being “waived/injured.” After a 24-hour claiming period, the player is moved to injured reserve, where the team that waived him maintains his rights.
Broncos wide receiver Kenny McKinley cleared waivers and was placed on injured reserve — on the same day.
Again, this happens all the time with no claims made – my recollection is the Jaguars claimed a player from Cleveland last season and I’m not sure I’ve covered a team that had a player claimed in this scenario until now. The Broncos could have moved Barrett directly to injured reserve and not exposed him to waivers – until the first cutdown date of Aug. 31 – but Barrett would have then counted against the 80-player roster limit. So the Broncos wouldn’t have been able to sign another player to take the place of a player who was not going to practice for the remainder of the season and they already have plenty of players out and need players on the field.
Former Broncos special teams coach Scott O’Brien is currently on the New England staff, and he obviously had some input as the Patriots looked for a potential special-teams contributor and found one in Barrett.
For his part Barrett was shocked to be packing his things Friday and said as much as he was walking to his car.
The Patriots will have to decide whether their medical staff disagrees with the Broncos’ staff, and may decide that Barrett could play this season despite his current shoulder troubles.
Or they could keep him on the roster until the first cutdown date and then move him to injured reserve.
During the regular season, players are moved directly to injured reserve without being exposed to waivers. Players can be waived/injured during the regular season, but that means the team has reached a financial settlement with the player before releasing him since injured players cannot simply be released.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
