Sports Terminology Question

[PetFish]

I'm a sports fan and I know my stuff but this has always bugged me.  What are the differences between:

Cut
Waived
Released
Bought-out

If you're waived, you have to clear waivers but if you're cut, you also have to clear waivers.  Stuff like that, so what is the dang-gum differences between them and what they mean for the team/player/contract/etc?

[lonestar]

I would take a shot at an answer but would probably fuck it up. Best wait for Dimitrius, he knows his shit.

[Cable]

I'm a sports fan and I know my stuff but this has always bugged me.  What are the differences between:

Cut
Waived
Released
Bought-out

If you're waived, you have to clear waivers but if you're cut, you also have to clear waivers.  Stuff like that, so what is the dang-gum differences between them and what they mean for the team/player/contract/etc?

Well, I could not find any info, and I did not know those who were cut had to clear waivers. I think released is another term for cut, and perhaps the three are inter-changeable. I think some differences may lie in the players contract.

Bought out is self explanatory. The team pays the player the remainder of the players guaranteed amount on their contract.

[hefdaddy42]

I think released and cut are the same, and they don't go through waivers.  The only people who go through waivers are those who are waived.

[TempusVox]

Good question. I have an answer! It all has to do with whether a player is vested or not. In the NFL a player becomes vested after four years of service. Doesn't matter how many teams he's played for. You make it four years, you are vested; and that determines whether you're released or waived.

Waived: Means a non-vested player (less than four years of service) who is terminated. When he is waived another team can claim him within a certain period of time. A vested veteran only goes through the waiver system from the trading deadline in midseason through the end of the season. During the offseason and all the way up to the trading deadline, a vested veteran gets released.

Released: Means a vested veteran who is free to sign with any club. Keep in mind, if the termination takes place between the end of the trading deadline and the end of the calendar year, the player goes through waivers.

Cut: Is just an unofficial term for being terminated. When you are cut, you are either released or waived.

[lonestar]

Oh, I wasnt thinking of the  union aspect of it.

[GuineaPig]

Depends on the sport.  Depends on the type of contract.

[Dr. DTVT]

Buy-outs are ususally for guaranteed contracts, like coaches or NBA players.  You can't just cut or fire them, you have to pay them the remainder of their contract or some other amount usually written into the contract.

[Zeltar]

It depends on the sport. For the NHL, cut is when a player is let go from training camp. When a player is waived, he is put on the "waiver wire" where any team can put a claim on him before he is sent to the minors. Teams have 24 hours to put in a claim. If more than one team claims a player, the team lower in the standings gets the player. A buy-out is when the player is paid a certain amount of money over twice the remaining length of the contract to leave the team. I forgot how buyouts are calculated but teams have to do it...before the free agency period begins I think? Again, I forgot. Anyways, after a buyout, the player becomes a free agent. But that's basically a summary of how that stuff works in the NHL.

[PetFish]

Well, thanks, but now it seems even more confusing.

Watching sports tonight (NFL) the host said "blah blah was waived so if he clears waivers he'll remain on the practice squad".  The next player he said "blah blah was cut so if he clears waivers he'll remain on the practice squad".  So if they mean the same thing why have two different terms?  If it is this whole "vested" thing then it makes a little more sense while at the same time making less sense.  But "released" means they don't have to clear waivers, they're just gone?

Ugh.

[Dr. DTVT]

I got this.

In the NFL, each team is allowed 8 non-roster players called a practice squad.  To be eligable for practice squad, a player must not have spent more than 3 years on a practice sqaud and not have accrued one year of NFL experience (being on the on active 53 man roster for 6 or more games in one season is considered one accrued season).  Any team can sign a player from another teams practice squad to their active squad, but this rarely happens because it requires that you release or put on injured reserve one of your own players, and presumable a team's own practice squad players know the schemes better than someone from another team - but it happens from time to time.