How the weekly cycle works

Every player not on a roster lives under the Players tab. Whether you claim them or add them instantly depends on where you are in the week:

Before Wednesday 3 AM ET (waivers): unrostered players must be claimed through waivers. Claims open Tuesday morning when the new week starts and process Wednesday shortly after 3 AM ET — you can't submit a claim mid-week for a player whose game already happened; they enter the next Tuesday-to-Wednesday cycle.
After Wednesday processing (free agency): players who cleared waivers unclaimed become free agents for the week — leaders can add them instantly, anytime before that player's game starts. This is how you stream defenses and kickers.
Once a player's game starts: they're locked for the rest of the week — no instant adds, no claims. They go back into the next waiver cycle Tuesday morning.

Dropped players go straight to free agency — no waiting period.

How claims work

Anyone on the squad can vote on who they think should be added or dropped. Voting here is advisory — a signal to your leaders.
Only leaders and co-leaders can actually submit a waiver claim or an instant add. If your squad wants a player, make sure a leader makes the move.
Claims process Wednesdays shortly after 3 AM ET.

Priority is reverse standings, reset every week — standings update Tuesday morning once Monday night finalizes, and that order sets the week's waiver priority. The worst record picks first. Losing has one perk.
Your squad can submit as many claims as you want, ranked in a queue. When one of your claims processes, you go to the back of the line before your next one is tried. If your #1 claim can't process (player already claimed by a squad with better priority), your #2 is tried instead, then #3, and so on.

The usual reasons:

The player was claimed by a squad with better waiver priority
Your roster was full and no drop was selected
Your drop player was locked (already played or in a game)
No leader actually submitted the claim — member votes alone don't create one