Jarryd Hayne’s agonising wait to find out if a new NFL club will snap him up will soon be over.

NFL teams have until 8am Tuesday AEDT to submit a claim for the former Australian rugby league star after he was cut by the San Francisco 49ers on the weekend.

It’s unlikely Hayne will be left on the shelf, with reports the Dallas Cowboys are taking a look at the punt returner and running back.

The Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions have shown interest in him previously and teams including the Chicago Bears and San Diego Chargers could be in the market for a new punt returner.

If all 31 clubs pass on Hayne he’ll likely be re-signed by the San Francisco 49ers, who fired him on Saturday but have since found themselves desperate for a punt returner and running back.

The 49ers were ravaged by injuries in Sunday’s 27-6 loss to the St Louis Rams, with running back Reggie Bush, who also took over punt return duties from Hayne, and Mike Davis, a rookie running back who some believe should have been fired instead of Hayne, unable to finish the game.

Bush suffered a suspected season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament, Davis injured his hand while the 49ers’ best running back, Carlos Hyde, was ruled out last week with a stress fracture in his foot.

The 49ers had planned to re-sign Hayne to their practice squad if another team didn’t grab him, but if he is still available they will likely rush him back into their 53-man squad.

“Jarryd has done everything we asked him to do,” 49ers coach Jim Tomsula, explaining why he cut Hayne, said after the Rams loss.

“We only have 53 spots and I made that decision.”

The 49ers’ playoff hopes appear dead after sinking to their sixth defeat in eight games and languishing at the bottom of the NFC West division.