After Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. ET, the football-following world will know whether another team has claimed via waivers the contract of former Browns running back Ben Tate or former Steelers running back LeGarrette Blount. It won’t immediately (or possibly ever) be known whether other teams made claims for the contracts of a pair of veteran tailbacks who were abruptly dumped by their teams.
As PFT explained earlier this month, the NFL has stopped disclosing on the daily personnel transaction report the names of the teams that unsuccessfully made a claim for a player on waivers. Teams were concerned that news of an attempt to claim a player at a given position would create an unnecessary distraction for the team that tried to get the player.
While it’s possible that the information will be leaked directly by the league office or by one or more of the teams that made the waivers claim in order to light a fire under the players currently on the roster who play that position, the NFL no longer communicates to all teams the names of the teams that tried, and failed, to get a player on waivers.