Waivers

[Goodell]

Okay... got an answer here, it did have to do with the time of year.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d ... nfirm=true

"A non-vested player (less than four years of service) who is terminated goes through waivers. When he is released 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."

[dinkatoid]

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, from the beginning of the waiver system each year through the trading deadline (October 20, 2009), any veteran who has acquired four years of pension credit is not subject to the waiver system if the club desires to release him. After the trading deadline, such players are subject to the waiver system.

http://www.raiderfans.net/forum/footbal ... ained.html

The forum post is a pretty decent explanation of waivers. It does not go into many rules about it, but it does explain the Larry Johnson thing.