The NFL season is about to begin, but as often happens after final cuts are made, many well known veteran players are waiting at home for a phone call.

That should change on Tuesday when teams can sign vested NFL veterans to non-guaranteed contracts for the rest of the season.

Article XXIII in the league’s collective bargaining agreement entitles vested veterans — players who have already spent four or more seasons in the league — to a guaranteed salary for the rest of the season as long as they are on the roster at the start of the season. Even if those players are released later, the team still owes the player his full salary under the one-time use “termination pay” clause.

This puts teams in a precarious position as it relates to veteran players on the fringe of the roster and to circumvent the clause many are often released in final cuts to nix the guarantee.

But come Tuesday, after one week of the season has been completed, the guarantees for vested veterans drop dramatically, making such signings much more palatable for teams. That, combined with injuries and the usual roster shuffling after a game should make for a busy Tuesday around the league.

Here’s a look at five players, considered vested veterans, who may find work come Tuesday.

Pierre Thomas, Running Back

It seems somewhat amazing that Pierre Thomas has been in the league for eight years, but after going undrafted out of Illinois in 2007, the 5-11 Thomas became a staple in the New Orleans backfield by committee, and played a key role on the Super Bowl XLIV Champion Saints in 2009-10.

However, after Thomas saw his production dip dramatically from 2013 to 2014, New Orleans cut the veteran running back in March. Since then, it’s been difficult for Thomas to find a new home. Though connected to several teams in rumors throughout the summer, he was never even brought to camp by a club and remains a free agent as the season begins.

It’s a surprising turn of events for the 30-year-old running back. Although he is over that age when running backs historically begin to drop off rapidly, there are a few reasons to believe Thomas still has something to give a team. Foremost is the fact that although he’s played eight seasons in the league, the mileage on Thomas’ legs is limited. He has 863 total carries along with 346 catches, an average of just over 150 touches per season, well under the workload felt by most veteran running backs.

Additionally, Thomas’ production was solid in his limited opportunities last year. Thomas played 11 games in despite dealing with multiple injuries, most notably a shoulder injury that cost him nearly a month in the middle of the season. When he was on the field, Thomas averaged over 4.9 yards per carry on his 44 rushing attempts and hauled in 45 passes for 378 total receiving yards.

It’s there that Thomas’ could present true value to a team in need. He remains one of the league’s best backs on screen plays and plenty of teams could make use of that skillset. The Cleveland Browns are the team most recently tied to Thomas after they traded running back Terrance West to Tennessee last week. The Dallas Cowboys will also be tied to every free agent RB until they either sign one, or their current committee proves capable. Several other teams could also be in position to give Thomas a call, depending on how Week 1 shakes out.

Jake Long, Offensive Tackle

Like Thomas, offensive tackle Jake Long has been looking for a job all summer to no avail, but that’s where the similarities between the two players end.

While Thomas is an undrafted player who exceeded expectations, Long, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, is quite the opposite and entered the 2015 offseason seeking a fresh opportunity to prove he still has top tier talent.

After being selected out of Michigan with the top pick in the draft by the Miami Dolphins, Long’s career got off to a phenomenal start. He was elected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons in the league and even earned First Team All-Pro honors in 2010. After his fifth year in Miami, which ended early due to a triceps injury, the Dolphins chose not to match a four-year, $34 million offer by the St. Louis Rams to the man they invested the top pick of the 2008 draft in, and Miami instead let him move on to St. Louis.

Long was excellent in his first season with the Rams in 2013, when Pro Football Focus rated him the 12th best tackle and 10th best left tackle in football. But Long fell out of favor fast in St. Louis. After a slow start last season, he ranked 31st among tackles over the first eight weeks of last season according to PFF, including 21st among left tackles. Then in Week 8, that rough season came to an end when Long suffered a season-ending ACL injury.

The in March of this year, the Rams cut the recovering Long to avoid a $4 million roster bonus he was due and save a total of $8 million on his contract. The now 30-year-old Long has spent the ensuing months rehabbing to get back into game shape while pursuing a new job.

Between his advanced age, the knee injury, and his general ineffectiveness before he went down last season, it’s unclear what type of impact Long could have for a team this season. But it seems clear someone will give him a shot, as there still aren’t 32 left tackles, nor 64 total starting tackles in the league better than him. It looked as though Long was headed for a spot with the New York Giants in July, but that never came to be. More recently, he went in to visit the Falcons last week and Atlanta could just be waiting for their window to sign him after Week 1.

Reggie Wayne, Wide Receiver

For a little while last month, it looked like Reggie Wayne might be back playing for a contender on the opening night of the season. But after spending just a few days with the New England Patriots in August and early September, the veteran wide receiver asked to be released by the defending Super Bowl Champions and once again became a free agent.

According to reports, the 36-year-old Wayne cited the tough work environment in New England, which was “not fun” as the reason for his quick change of heart.

Now Wayne is back where he started the offseason after the Colts released him in March and signed Andre Johnson to replace him. The veteran wideout spent most of the summer searching for a spot on a contender before his brief landing and awkward departure in New England.

Wayne, who was selected 30th overall in the 2001 draft, is one of the most prolific receivers of his generation. Over 14 seasons with the Colts, the six-time Pro Bowl selection hauled in more than 1,000 passes for more than 14,000 yards and scored 82 touchdowns. He was a crucially important member of Indy’s Super Bowl XLI championship team and currently ranks seventh all-time in catches and eighth in receiving yards, while leading all “active” players in both categories.

But Wayne’s production has certainly dropped off dramatically over the last two seasons. After hauling in 106 passes for 1,355 yards in 2012, Wayne played in just seven games due to injury in 2013. Then last season, despite playing in 15 of 16 games, he caught just 64 balls, despite being targeted will over 100 times for 779 yards, his lowest totals since his second season in the league when he was still playing second fiddle to Marvin Harrison in the Colts receiving corps. Like with Harrison before him, Indianapolis clearly sensed that it was time to move on from the aging veteran and cut off ties with Wayne.

Despite his advanced age and decreasing production, Wayne could probably still help a contending team, but it’s not clear he’ll get another opportunity to do so. New England seemed like a good fit before he walked away from there and the Green Bay Packers were also on his radar after the Jordy Nelson injury, but they recently signed James Jones to fill their aging wide receiver quota. If the right opportunity doesn’t arise, Wayne might elect to retire, but with more injuries certain to happen around the league at the wide receiver position once the season begins, he might get one more chance in the near future.

Cortland Finnegan, Defensive Back

While Wayne spent the offseason looking for a job after being released by the Colts, Cortland Finnegan unsurprisingly took an alternate route after being cut by the Dolphins.

Shortly after learning he would no longer play for the Dolphins, Finnegan announced his retirement from the league, seemingly bringing an end to a tumultuous nine-year career. However, Finnegan’s name resurfaced recently and it appears the veteran defensive back is looking to make a comeback as either a cornerback or safety.

This is interesting. CB Cortland Finnegan, who said he was retired, wants to play again — as a CB or S. Hired @RosenhausSports to do it.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 27, 2015

This is not a surprising turn of events for those who have followed Finnegan’s wacky career.

After the Tennessee Titans brought him into the league as a seventh round pick in 2006, Finnegan emerged as one of the league’s best cornerbacks just two years later in 2008, earning Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro nods after a five-interception campaign that also included 17 pass defensed. Finnegan grabbed another five interceptions the following year, but started to fall off shortly thereafter.

He briefly recaptured his top tier form in 2011, his final year in Tennessee, when he was ranked as the league’s second best cornerback according to Pro Football Focus. That resurgent season earned him a lucrative five-year, $50 million contract with the Rams. But just two disappointing years into that deal St. Louis released Finnegan. He landed in Miami on a two-year deal and after playing in 12 games for the Dolphins to mediocre results, including his first season without an interception since his rookie year, Miami cut ties with him as well.

Now it appears the oft-maligned defensive back wants in, and if he really is open to playing safety that could make him more highly sought after on the market than if he were to stick at corner. At this point, his inconsistent year-to-year production means no team is likely to guarantee him much money or playing time. But if he wants to play there are several teams that should be willing to give him that opportunity after the vested veteran deadline passes. The Pittsburgh Steelers sure looked like they could used some backend help on Thursday night. Having Finnegan on a “prove it” contract could be the perfect storm to produce another one of those classic resurgent seasons from one of the league’s most fascinating players.

Hakeem Nicks, Wide Receiver

While most of the best available vested veterans have spent little to no time with teams this summer, Hakeem Nicks spent the entire duration of training camp with the Tennessee Titans before being released last week, leaving him looking for a new job once again.

A six-year veteran, Nicks flashed signs of brilliance early in his career after the Giants made him the No. 29 overall pick in the 2009 draft, before flaming out in New York, and then Indianapolis.

After establishing himself as a prime target for quarterback Eli Manning during a strong rookie season, Nicks posted back-to-back 75-catch, 1,000-yard receiving seasons with the Giants in his second and third years. But after injuries hampered him throughout his fourth season, he could never recapture that connection with Manning and in 2013, though he was targeted more than 100 times once again by the New York quarterback, he didn’t catch a single touchdown pass.

The Giants expressed little interest in retaining Nicks when he became a free agent and he instead signed a one-year contract with the Colts. But things didn’t work out there either. He started just six games and by the end of the season found himself well down the depth chart at receiver for a team that came up one win short of the Super Bowl.

He landed with Tennessee in April on another one-year deal and started working toward a spot on the roster. He worked out with Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota during the summer and began to develop a rapport with a young signal caller. It all appeared to be coming together for him in Tennessee, so so his release came as a bit of a surprise because Nicks actually appeared to be making an impression in Tennessee.

“I feel like I definitely have a chip on my shoulder,” Nicks told The Tennessean early in camp. “But more than wanting to prove anything to the world, I just want to prove it to this team and my coaches, for giving me the opportunity to come here and prove myself. This is a situation that fits my style of play, and I just want to take advantage of every opportunity.”

But despite starting all four preseason games for the Titans, Nicks caught just three passes for a total of 59 yards, most of them coming on one big 40-yard play against St. Louis. Still it seemed like he had a decent shot to make the Tennessee roster, which is thin on talent.

There’s a chance this is a temporary move for the Titans, who are waiting to see how things work out with receiver Justin Hunter, who is set to stand trial next week on an assault charge. If Hunter becomes unavailable, Tennessee could be motivated to re-sign Nicks, who has familiarity with Mariota. Nicks has also drawn interest from elsewhere, including a workout for the New Orleans Saints last week, so the 27-year-old former first round pick appears destined to land somewhere. Whether he can recapture the form that made him a first round pick and had him destined for stardom in New York just a few short years ago is anybody’s guess.