Pats unfairly gaining advantage with compensatory picks?

[convertedpatsfan]

Cowboys Should Get 4 Compensatory Picks In Draft

We were 8th in total comp picks since 1994 prior to the 2016 season, when we got the max 4 comp picks and jumped up to 4th most.

So it's one thing we do use, but I think it's impact is over-stated based on what the talking heads are saying. They're making it sound like we are the masters of the system, when we're not even in the top 3 since 1994.

The top 3 are Ravens, Cowboys, and Packers, and while the Cowboys were good last year, they haven't been that great as far as organizations go since 1994.

New England and Pittsburgh are 4th and 5th, but after that, you've got teams like St. Louis, Philly, Tennessee, San Fran, and Seattle rounding out the top 10. So there's a real mixed bag of good and bad franchises in there.

Having comp picks themselves doesn't necessarily indicate whether you're a good franchise or not. Some bad franchises get lots of picks because guys don't want to re-sign, or the team can't afford to re-sign them. Others make conscious choices (like the Ravens and Patriots). So it goes beyond just looking at number of extra picks franchises get, and it doesn't guarantee success, nor is it our super secret weapon against parity.

 

[Tuck]

Qualifying offers only apply to those who sign after June 1. They are not needed for someone who signs in March, April, or May (see the link you provided).

Therefore, there is no floor for bidding. Additionally, MLB (and presumably the NFL) has been working for years to minimize compensatory draft picks due to salary drags and restrictions on free agency.

In the NFL's system, the compensatory draft pick is based on a player's salary. Let's take this to the extreme: Every team suddenly decides to adopt the Patriots/Ravens/49ers/Packers approach. Who signs free agents then? Agents are reaching out to GMs, GMs say they're not making an offer to that player, that player then is left out to dry. Eventually one team "caves in" and provides a lowball deal, which the free agent ultimately accepts.

The above scenario will never happen to the true elite free agents. But it would happen to the mid-tier guys and the lower-tier guys. Those players may not have a strong market in this case, and may wind up with just their only "choice" being to resign with their former team at a lowball salary.

Obviously this hasn't happened yet. But it could. If I were the NFLPA, I would be very weary of the Patriots/Ravens/49ers/Packers tactics here.

MLB has had free agency for 40 years, and over that time period compensation for lost free agents has slowly diminished. This year only 10 players were potentially eligible, and the compensation for them is significantly reduced. Every other free agent was truly free - a no-strings attached signing.

In an NFL with a hard salary cap and a salary floor, compensatory picks make no sense. Perhaps they could be offered to the elite-of-the-elite (i.e. the potential 3rd rounders) to alleviate the talent development concerns, similar to MLB, but it makes no sense otherwise to inhibit player movement the way they do.

Nice post. You did a better job of explaining it than I did.

 

[patriot1136]

My apologizes for not reading every post, but is the compensatory picks part of the CBA or what? How was the whole thing decided? I don't remember compensatory picks 10 years ago.

 

[Urgent]

There are 32 compensatory picks awarded, starting with picks after the 32nd pick in the third round.
There used to be eight rounds to the draft, and then the draft was revised to include seven standard rounds and 32 compensatory players spread across the draft, after rounds three, four, five, six, and seven.
The purpose was to provide some compensation to teams that faced a net loss of unrestricted free agents, thus increasing parity, to lessen the pain of free agency on individual teams. Lessen, not eliminate. If you lose the most highly-rated and expensive player in free agency in year one, you receive a pick at the end of the third round in year two.

Not all free agents figure within the compensation formula. If you release a player under contract, there is no compensation.

Thus, the Patriots have done several things:

• Structure contracts with the ability to terminate the contract while still fitting under the formula, with contractual bonuses confirming the next phase of the deal. If there is not bonus payment, the player becomes an unrestricted free agent. The Patriots can gain a compensatory pick if that player is picked up by another team, within a specific window and at a specific salary range.
• Target players who have been released by other teams in free agency. Chris Long, Scott Chandler, Darrelle Revis, Patrick Chung, Darius Fleming, I believe Danny Amendola - all examples of players who were released by their team, and thus did not count against the Patriots in the comp pick formula.
• Wait to sign players after the June 1 compensatory window. Brandon Spikes and LaGarrette Blount fit this category.

That said, these are players in the draft in the range of 97 to 250. Teams are not allotted top-50 draft slots, and cannot gain more than four comp picks in a year. The majority of the awarded picks are in the sixth and seventh rounds. It's not an advantage that is going to turn a season around.