The Detroit Lions are in pole position to sign Jarryd Hayne after the Australian was cut by the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers announced on Saturday they had waived Hayne in order to promote running back Kendall Gaskins to the active roster from the team’s practice squad.

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A year ago when Hayne quit the NRL it seemed he would end up in Motor City with the Lions, but the 49ers swooped and guaranteed the former rugby league star $US100,000.

When a player is cut from a team, the NFL clubs with the worst records have first dibs.

The Lions have the equal-worst record this season with just one win and six losses so will likely get Hayne if they want him.

“If Detroit Lions are still interested, Jarryd Hayne just hit waivers,” MLive.com, one of Michigan’s leading news websites, trumpeted.

The Baltimore Ravens are the NFL’s other bottom feeder, while the Tennessee Titans, after a bye, have a slightly better one win, five loss record.

Teams can submit a claim for Hayne over the next 24 hours.

It will be announced on Monday if Hayne has been picked up by a team.

The 49ers made the shock move on Saturday to cut Hayne.

They promoted the more experienced running back Kendall Gaskins from their practice squad.

The shuffle comes after the 49ers’ best running back Carlos Hyde was ruled out on Friday with a foot stress fracture.

According to sources, the 49ers are hoping the other 31 NFL teams all pass on Hayne and they can sign him to their practice squad.

Practice squad players train with the team but don’t play games and don’t get paid as much, but it’s a situation the 49ers would use to continue to teach Hayne the NFL.

Another team expected to be keen on Hayne are the 49ers’ arch rivals the Seattle Seahawks, who showed interest in Hayne a year ago.

Last week Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, one of the NFL’s great innovators, was still bullish on Hayne.

“We had a lot of thoughts about how we were going to use him,” Carroll said.

The Seahawks, with their middle of the pack three win, four loss record, will have to hope Hayne is bypassed by 13 other teams.

Other teams with poor records include the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Diego Chargers.

AAP