Vikings spur waiver rule change at NFL League Meeting

There were several rule changes that were adopted at the NFL League Meetings in Orlando, Florida today. One of those rule changes was proposed by the Minnesota Vikings after they were affected by the previous rule this past postseason.

The rule that the Vikings proposed, and was adopted by the league, reduces the period for waiver claims during the postseason to 24 hours, matching what it is in the regular season. Previously, the rule stated that a team that waived a player during the postseason would have to wait ten days in order to reclaim that player.

During the playoffs, when the Vikings moved quarterback Sam Bradford from Injured Reserve to the active roster, they made room for him by waiving tight end Kyle Carter. Because the move was made during the postseason, teams had to wait 10 days in order to make a claim on Carter. After that time, the New York Giants claimed Carter off of waivers, and he is now reunited with former Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who is now the Giants’ head coach.

Carter spent the final three weeks of the regular season on the Vikings’ active roster, after the team promoted him following the season-ending shoulder injury suffered by fellow tight end Blake Bell.

It’s not a huge rule change or anything like that, really, but it’s still something the Vikings proposed and got the owners to agree to, so now teams can release players during the postseason and see a significantly lower chance of them going to another team.

Here are the rest of the rule changes that were adopted during this week’s meetings.