3. Injured players with 4+ seasons of service time can be immediately placed on Injured Reserve (IR).
4. Up until the final cutdown date, injured players with less than four years of service cannot go onto IR until they pass through waivers. Those players are released with the “waived/injured” designation. Known as “injury waivers,” this process exposes the player to waivers, but warns other teams that the player is injured. If the player clears injury waivers, the team can then either place the player on IR or agree to an injury settlement (paying the player for the weeks that he is expected to be recovering from his injury) and then release the player.
It is important to keep in mind that injury waivers only apply during the offseason, up until the final cutdown date. So, as of the final cutdown date, a player with less than four years of service time can be placed directly on IR, although some teams will still use the “waived-injured” designation, hoping that another team will claim the player, thereby relieving them of the financial responsibility for a player on IR.