Reference guide

NFL transaction types explained

A transaction is more than a headline: the completed action can change a player's club, roster status, rights, or availability in different ways.

Supporting standardReviewed 2026-07-20

How to read transactions

The public guide groups detailed league actions into the practical types a fan sees. Some technical variants describe the same football outcome, so they are combined here without exposing internal labels.

An agreement, visit, workout, or pending trade is not the same as a completed move. RosterVerdict shows the player-state consequence only when the action has actually taken effect.

Team-relative movement

A completed trade means Departed for one club and Arrived for the other. A release, waiver, draft selection, tender, or contract change has a different meaning and should not be collapsed into one generic 'signed' label.