For this game, the U.S. professional football season is divided into a series of "Game Weeks." The first Game Week begins on Tuesday, September 2 at 12:01 AM PT and ends on the following Monday, September 8 at 11:59 PM PT. Subsequent Game Weeks follow the same schedule, beginning Tuesday morning and ending Monday evening.
After the draft, your initial starting lineup will be based on the roster specifications used in your league. Your lineup will be carried forward from week to week unless you choose to make any changes.
The deadline to complete all transactions (trades, waiver claims, and free agent claims) for a given week is 11:59 pm PT every Sunday.
However, you'll only be able to add players to your active roster for the current Game Week if the transaction is completed no later than five minutes before the scheduled start of the player's game. In other words, if any of the active players on your team (players in a starting roster spot) involved in a move have already played that Game Week or are within five minutes of their game's scheduled start time, the transaction will not be allowed. So, for example, transactions for all active players who play at 10:00 am PT must be completed by 9:55 am PT.
You will be allowed to make transactions involving your bench players at any time during a Game Week—even if a player's game has begun. However, you will not be permitted to activate any player who is already within the five-minute limit. All such players will have to remain on your bench until the following Game Week.
Additionally, all intra-roster moves (switching players between active and bench spots) can be made until five minutes before the start of each player's game.
However, once you've used a player at a particular position, you won't be able to edit your lineup at this position for the remainder of the Game Week. So, you cannot use a QB who plays at 10:00 a.m. PT on Sunday, and then edit your lineup to use another QB who plays later on Sunday or Monday night.
Also, keep in mind that your league may include a trading deadline. Click on the "League Settings" link from your league home page to view the configuration of your league. Trade deadlines do not impact the ability to add players via waivers or free agency.