The NFL awarded 13 teams with a total of 33 compensatory picks for the 2016 NFL Draft. NFL league rules state that teams receive compensation in way of compensatory picks through the yearly NFL draft if a team loses a high number of unrestricted free agents or better known as ‘compensatory free agents’ than they acquire in the previous year. These picks are positioned between the third through sixth rounds in 2016 based on the value of the compensatory free agents lost, other years compensatory picks were granted through the seventh rounds, each year is different.
My 15 years in the league, the only members that really understood the compensatory formula was the NFL Management Council and the formula rules seem to change year to year. What I gathered as a base rule was compensatory free agents are determined by a formula based on unrestricted free agents, salary, playing time which is the total number of snaps played in all three phases (offense, defense, special teams) and postseason honors in the way of All Pro team and Pro Bowl. The catch was not every free agent lost or signed by a club was covered by this formula.
As explained by my friends at OvertheCap.com and AdamJT13 the mastermind behind breaking down the NFL’s compensatory system – “Each qualifying player has a value based on his contract, playing time and postseason honors, and that value corresponds to a round in the draft. In the compensatory equation, each qualifying player that a team signs cancels out a qualifying player that the team lost whose value is the highest in the same round. If there are no lost players remaining in that round, the signed player cancels out the lost player whose value is the next-highest. A signed player will cancel out a lost player whose value falls in a higher round only if there are no remaining lost players. After all of a team’s qualifying signed players have canceled out a lost player, the team can receive a comp pick for each qualifying player who remains. For example, consider a team that loses one qualifying player whose value falls in the third round and another qualifying player whose value falls in the sixth round but signs a qualifying player whose value falls in the third round. That team would receive a sixth-round comp pick because the signed player would cancel out the loss of the higher-valued player. If the signed player’s value were equal to a fourth-round pick or lower, however, the team would receive a third-round comp pick, because the signed player would cancel out the loss of the lower-valued player”.
A rule change approved by all 32 clubs in 2015, will permit compensatory draft picks to be traded starting 2017 NFL Draft. For the 2016 NFL Draft Compensatory picks are not allowed to be traded.
Below are the compensatory draft picks for the 2016 NFL Draft, which will be held on April 28-30 in Chicago, IL
Round | Round Choice/
Overall Selection |
NFL Club |
3 | 33-95 | Detroit Lions |
3 | 34-96 | New England Patriots |
3 | 35-97 | Seattle Seahawks |
3 | 36-98 | Denver Broncos |
4 | 33-131 | Green Bay Packers |
4 | 34-132 | Baltimore Ravens |
4 | 35-133 | San Francisco 49ers |
4 | 36-134 | Baltimore Ravens |
4 | 37-135 | Dallas Cowboys |
4 | 38-136 | Denver Broncos |
4 | 39-137 | Green Bay Packers |
4 | 40-138 | Cleveland Browns |
4 | 41-139 | Buffalo Bills |
5 | 33-170 | Arizona Cardinals |
5 | 34-171 | Seattle Seahawks |
5 | 35-172 | Cleveland Browns |
5 | 36-173 | Cleveland Browns |
5 | 37-174 | San Francisco 49ers |
5 | 38-175 | San Diego Chargers |
6 | 33-208 | New England Patriots |
6 | 34-209 | Baltimore Ravens |
6 | 35-210 | Detroit Lions |
6 | 36-211 | San Francisco 49ers |
6 | 37-212 | Dallas Cowboys |
6 | 38-213 | San Francisco 49ers |
6 | 39-214 | New England Patriots |
6 | 40-215 | Seattle Seahawks |
6 | 41-216 | Dallas Cowboys |
6 | 42-217 | Dallas Cowboys |
6 | 43-218 | Buffalo Bills |
6 | 44-219 | Denver Broncos |
6 | 45-220 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
6 | 46-221 | New England Patriots |
Below is the breakdown of compensatory free agents lost and signed in 2015 by the clubs that will receive compensatory picks in the 2016 draft.
ARIZONA | Lost: | Sam Acho, Antonio Cromartie, Paul Fanaika, Rob Housler, Dan Williams |
Gained: | Mike Iupati, Corey Peters, Cory Redding, Sean Weatherspoon | |
BALTIMORE | Lost: | Owen Daniels, Pernell McPhee, Torrey Smith, Darian Stewart, Tyrod Taylor |
Gained: | Kendrick Lewis | |
BUFFALO | Lost: | Erik Pears, Da’Norris Searcy, Lee Smith, C.J. Spiller |
Gained: | Tyrod Taylor | |
CLEVELAND | Lost: | Miles Austin, Jordan Cameron, Brian Hoyer, Ahtyba Rubin, Jabaal Sheard, Buster Skrine |
Gained: | Rob Housler, Tramon Williams | |
DALLAS | Lost: | Bruce Carter, Justin Durant, Dwayne Harris, Henry Melton, DeMarco Murray, Jermey Parnell, George Selvie |
Gained: | Andrew Gachkar, Greg Hardy, Darren McFadden | |
DENVER | Lost: | Orlando Franklin, Nate Irving, Terrance Knighton, Will Montgomery, Rahim Moore, Jacob Tamme, Julius Thomas |
Gained: | Owen Daniels, Darian Stewart | |
DETROIT | Lost: | Kellen Davis, Nick Fairley, Garrett Reynolds, Ndamukong Suh |
Gained: | Josh Wilson | |
GREEN BAY | Lost: | Davon House, Tramon Williams |
Gained: | ||
NEW ENGLAND | Lost: | Akeem Ayers, Brandon Browner, Jonathan Casillas, Darrelle Revis, Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, Vince Wilfork |
Gained: | Jabaal Sheard | |
PITTSBURGH | Lost: | Brice McCain |
Gained: | ||
SAN DIEGO | Lost: | Andrew Gachkar, Marcus Gilchrist, Ryan Mathews, Eddie Royal |
Gained: | Orlando Franklin, Patrick Robinson, Jimmy Wilson | |
SAN FRANCISCO | Lost: | Perrish Cox, Michael Crabtree, Chris Culliver, Frank Gore, Mike Iupati, Dan Skuta |
Gained: | Erik Pears, Torrey Smith | |
SEATTLE | Lost: | James Carpenter, Jeron Johnson, Byron Maxwell, O’Brien Schofield, Malcolm Smith |
Gained: | Ahtyba Rubin |
Below is the 2016 NFL Team compensatory total picks. With the addition of 33 compensatory picks this year, fans and 13 NFL clubs are treated to a 8th round of the 2016 draft.
Dallas | 4 |
New England | 4 |
San Francisco | 4 |
Baltimore | 3 |
Cleveland | 3 |
Denver | 3 |
Seattle | 3 |
Buffalo | 2 |
Detroit | 2 |
Green Bay | 2 |
Arizona | 1 |
Pittsburgh | 1 |
San Diego | 1 |
TOTAL | 33 |
Listed below are the NFL club total summaries of compensatory draft picks dating back to 1994 through 2016
Baltimore | 47 |
Dallas | 37 |
Green Bay | 37 |
New England | 33 |
Los Angeles | 31 |
Pittsburgh | 31 |
Philadelphia | 30 |
Tennessee | 30 |
San Francisco | 29 |
Buffalo | 28 |
Seattle | 27 |
Cincinnati | 24 |
NY Giants | 23 |
Detroit | 21 |
Indianapolis | 21 |
Jacksonville | 19 |
Kansas City | 19 |
San Diego | 19 |
Arizona | 18 |
Atlanta | 18 |
Tampa Bay | 18 |
Chicago | 17 |
Miami | 17 |
Minnesota | 17 |
Oakland | 17 |
Carolina | 16 |
Denver | 16 |
NY Jets | 13 |
Houston | 12 |
Washington | 12 |
New Orleans | 10 |
Cleveland | 9 |
TOTAL | 716 |