A quick primer on compensatory picks

[ctpatsfan77]

I posted this on Reddit.

First off, a player does not count in the formula if any of the following are true. (This is not a complete list, but rather a list of the key rules pertinent to the first few days of free agency.)

1. The player is not an unrestricted free agent. (RFAs/ERFAs don't count.)
   
   
2. The player re-signs with his old team.
   
   
3. The player retires.
   
   
4. The player reached free agency through any mechanism other than an expiring contract (declined options and voided contracts do count as expiring contracts, but being waived does not).
   
   
5. The player reached free agency on any day other than the first day of the league year.
   
   
6. The player was traded. [There is an exception here, but it isn't relevant ATM.]
   
   
7. The player signed a contract whose annual average value is below the 50th percentile of all NFL contracts (roughly $1M/year).
   
   
8. The player signed a contract that qualifies for the vet minimum.

In terms of picks, there are 32 available, and teams are limited to a maximum of four picks. The 32 highest-valued players earn picks, and everyone else gets nothing.

The rule in terms of picks canceling is that they always cancel within a round first (e.g., a third-rounder cancels out another third-rounder, if available). If there are no remaining players in that round, they then cancel out the closest pick downward first; only if no such picks remain do they cancel upward.

As a result, you generally must lose more UFAs than you sign to receive comp picks. If you sign the same number, you can get a single comp 7 pick, if the 32 picks haven't been awarded. [To use an extreme case, if you lose one $20M FA, and sign two $1.5M contracts, you get no comp pick.]

Edit: I was wrong about the rule for picks canceling. It is within a round first.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

At the moment, it's likely that the Pats are in line for a 3 (Butler), 5 (Amendola), and 6 (Lewis).

ETA: Ugh. Another 3 (Solder).

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Excellent job! Thanks for putting this together for us!

We could be adding a 3rd for solder or a 7th for flowers, hopefully!

I still think bb resigns Slater!

 

[ctpatsfan77]

We could be adding a 3rd for solder or a 7th for flowers, hopefully!

Let's hope it's the latter.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Excellent job! Thanks for putting this together for us!

We could be adding a 3rd for solder or a 7th for flowers, hopefully!

I still think bb resigns Slater!

The max would be 4 so the Pats could still get 4 even if they sign a player and in your scenario, they lose both Solder and Flowers...

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

Bill loves his compensatory picks. Well he will have a bunch of them.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

The max would be 4 so the Pats could still get 4 even if they sign a player and in your scenario, they lose both Solder and Flowers...

Correct. The limit is on picks received, not FAs that count towards the formula.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

Excellent job! Thanks for putting this together for us!

We could be adding a 3rd for solder or a 7th for flowers, hopefully!

I still think bb resigns Slater!

Nope, the max you can get is 4 comp picks, so it looks like a 3rd for Solder and a 3rd (now maybe a 4th) for Butler, 5th for Amendola, and 6th for Lewis.

These can get cancelled if the Pats sign an unrestricted free agent with equal value but they can not get anymore than 4.

 

[Love The Drake]

Comp picks are nothing to sneeze at

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Comp picks are nothing to sneeze at

True, but I'd rather have Solder than a 2019 3.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

pick 199 in 2000 was a compensatory one and that turned out okay.....

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Why do you even post? This is purely an informational thread for those curious.

 

[juny]

overthecap.com usually does a good job of predicting the comp picks

 

[jah]

Why do you even post? This is purely an informational thread for those curious.

He's not interested in that nerdy ****.

 

[IllegalContact]

we are swimming in them next year!!!!

 

[ctpatsfan77]

overthecap.com usually does a good job of predicting the comp picks

They absolutely do, but people often wonder why player X is/n't counting. That's what this is for.

 

[Nehalem]

We may be losing the offseason.

But at least we are winning compensatory picks!

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

True, but I'd rather have Solder than a 2019 3.

Right now, yes. Ask me this in 2019 I might say I’d rather have the 3rd

 

[fxmallon]

Comp picks are nothing to sneeze at

At times, forum members pooh-pooh them as if they're somehow worth less than a straight up draft pick. But, in no way are they lesser. Ask BB?

This is a similar to the common attitude that a 7th round pick is more or less a joke or useless but that somehow UFAs are exciting and crucial. It makes no logical sense that the unpicked are better than the picked but that seems to be the read of many.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Right now, yes. Ask me this in 2019 I might say I’d rather have the 3rd

Perhaps, but the problem is that comp picks do nothing to help the team this year.