This past offseason, 5 Wyoming Cowboys signed on to NFL rosters after going undrafted in the April draft. Frank Crum headed to the Denver Broncos, Ayir Asante signed with the New York Giants, Easton Gibbs joined the Seattle Seahawks, Treyton Welch became a Cleveland Brown, and Andrew Peasley turned into a New York Jet.
This Tuesday however, four of these former Pokes are looking for different opportunities. The NFL allows up to 90 players on an offseason roster, allowing teams to get a look at many different athletes during the preseason. Before the regular season starts however, this number must be whittled down to just a 53-man roster.
Frank Crum will become the only Cowboy from the 2023 season to make a final roster, after his four former teammates would ultimately end up being waived. So what’s next for these players?
Being waived means that other NFL teams will now have a chance to add the players and pick up their rookie contracts. Rather than being released and being free to negotiate with any NFL team, it’s almost like the players are drafted all over again. A waiver order determines who has the right to sign players first, so struggling teams have a better chance to pick up valuable rookies.
Teams can pick up these waived rookies and either make room for them on their 53-man roster, or add them to the practice squad. The practice squad is a group of 16 players that are not included on the normal roster. These players still practice with the team and gain experience, along with a generous weekly salary.
Additionally, NFL teams can sign players off of other practice squads as long as they add them directly to their 53-man roster. In short, it can be a confusing process as an NFL free agent. Nevertheless, it means that the journey is not complete for Asante, Welch, Gibbs, and Peasley.
Several NFL teams have already picked up waived players and signed them to their practice squad already, including teams who added players they waived the day before. At the time of publishing, no team has claimed any of the former Cowboys, but time will tell if they stay out of an NFL organization for long.
For Crum, he will represent Wyoming and Laramie in the NFL and join a slew of other Cowboy Football products including Josh Allen, Logan Wilson, Chad Muma, Marcus Epps, and Carl Granderson.
The NFL season kicks off next weekend.
