Compensatory picks are key to Green Bay Packers draft success
May 8, 2014; New York, NY, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell begins the draft and puts the Houston Texans on the clock at the start of the 2014 NFL draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
It’s that time of year again when the Green Bay Packers will find out how many compensatory draft picks they have been awarded.
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Compensatory selections are a major contributor to general manager Ted Thompson‘s draft-and-develop philosophy. For a team fully committed to building a roster through the draft, it’s important to stock up on picks each year.
NFL is expected to announce compensatory draft picks today. #Packers likely to get at least two extra sixth round picks.
— Brian Carriveau (@BrianCarriveau) March 23, 2015
Why will the Packers likely receive two picks?
Teams are compensated for players they lose in unrestricted free agency the year before.
The exact formula is kept under wraps, but the picks are designed to help teams that have lost key players the previous year. What we do know is the NFL can only give out a maximum of 32 compensatory picks across the league, and the maximum a team can receive is four.
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The deciding factors when determining compensatory picks include the annual contract a departing player receives with his new team and how important the player was to his previous team.
Last year, the Packers received an extra third round pick for the loss of wide receiver Greg Jennings and a fifth-rounder for linebacker Erik Walden.
In 2014, the Packers lost Evan Dietrich-Smith, James Jones, Marshall Newhouse and C.J. Wilson in unrestricted free agency.
It’s expected they will receive two sixth-rounders for Dietrich-Smith and Jones, with a possible extra seventh-rounder for Newhouse.
Over The Cap projects the Packers will receive all three.
While the Packers did sign Julius Peppers and Letroy Guion in free agency last year, they were both released by their former teams. Street free agents don’t count when determining compensatory picks.
How have the Packers fared with their compensatory picks in previous years?
Next: What does the past tell us?