What is the Purpose of Compensatory Picks

[Nehalem]

The Patriots cap space on May 18, 2017 proves they could not have re-signed Jones and Collins? That is way beyond a reach. Of course they could have afforded both players if they felt they were worth the contracts they were asking for. They didn't pay them that money because it was more than the players were worth to them, not because of an economic disadvantage.

They could have afforded Jones and Collins sure. But not Jones, Collins + Hightower, Butler, Ryan, Harmon, Sheard, Long, Bennett, etc

The Patriots were going to lose players due to the cap. It was just a question of which ones.

Let's take the Dwayne Allen trade. The Patriots traded for Allen, so he isn't part of any comp pick offset. They let Martellus Bennett walk, which is part of the comp pick formula. So, they replaced a tight end with another tight end and will get a comp pick for it.

And they lost a pick trading for Allen. Hardly a free lunch.

But really I don't think anyone will argue with your larger point that BB is good at taking advantage of the rules. Just ask Harbaugh

 

[TruthSeeker]

There are 8 rounds of draft picks. It was agreed that instead of having a normal eighth round that they would instead award up to 32 compensatory picks to those teams that lost more (and better) free agents than they acquired. The concept is as simple as that.

Personally, I prefer compensatory picks to an eighth round.

 

[jmt57]

I don't understand the underlying logic or reason for compensatory picks. A team knowingly signs a player to a contract of a certain duration. Once that contract has expired, the player is a free agent and can sign with another team. The original team then gets a compensatory pick. Seems like the team's being rewarded for failing to come to an agreement with the player. I would think the NFLPA would be against this since its a disincentive to for teams to sign their own free agents. What am I missing?

You need to go back to the dawn of free agency and the salary cap to understand that logic.

At that time there was a fear/assumption that the best teams would unfairly be picked apart of the best talent that they had located and coached up. There was much gnashing of the teeth with talk about how unfair it was that a team that developed a player would lose said player as he was entering the prime of his career, and get absolutely nothing back in return.

In terms of the contract expiring, keep in mind that for a very long time in all sports a player was property of his original team until that team decided they no longer wanted that player. Many felt free agency would ruin all pro sports leagues.

 

[rochrist]

I don't understand the underlying logic or reason for compensatory picks. A team knowingly signs a player to a contract of a certain duration. Once that contract has expired, the player is a free agent and can sign with another team. The original team then gets a compensatory pick. Seems like the team's being rewarded for failing to come to an agreement with the player. I would think the NFLPA would be against this since its a disincentive to for teams to sign their own free agents. What am I missing?

You're missing that the cap makes it literally impossibly to resign all your players, especially championship teams. This is an attempt to somewhat ameliorate that.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

You're missing that the cap makes it literally impossibly to resign all your players, especially championship teams. This is an attempt to somewhat ameliorate that.

But everyone has the same cap. What's the point of giving everyone roughly the same number of compensatory picks? Zero sum. And if what you are saying is true about championship teams, why are they being rewarded by a league that is striving for parity?

 

[rochrist]

But everyone has the same cap. What's the point of giving everyone roughly the same number of compensatory picks? Zero sum. And if what you are saying is true about championship teams, why are they being rewarded by a league that is striving for parity?

They don't give everyone the same number. That's kind of the point. And the championship teams aren't being rewarded per se, unless you consider losing (for example) Chandler Jones in return for a pick at the tail end of the third round to be a reward.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I think there needs to be clearly defined parameters for giving out compensatory picks.

The current formula is to vague and allows for the league to manipulate.

The league is such a poorly run organization. They do not need any more nebulous dealings in this matter.

 

[maineman209]

I think there needs to be clearly defined parameters for giving out compensatory picks.

The current formula is to vague and allows for the league to manipulate.

The league is such a poorly run organization. They do not need any more nebulous dealings in this matter.

There are defined parameters. They're just so super-duper secret that even the NSA doesn't know what they are - one a very few things that the league offices DON'T leak.

Personally, I think Goodell just jots them down on a legal pad while he's on the crapper.

 

[patfanken]

A couple of comments on the comments:

1. Remember inorder to get a 3rd round comp pick you are probably giving up a top 100 player and likely one of the top ten players on your team. Getting what will amount to the #100 pick in a draft a year from now, is NOT much compensation when you think about it.

2. In any given SINGLE year, you can make Felger's comment that "the cap is crap" a reality. So in that vein we COULD have signed backloaded deals and resigned everyone on our wish list. Where Felger is full of sh!t is that eventually you will have to pay for the folly of "going all in".

3. BB has long understood that folly. He knows it is SO hard to win a superbowl. So many things have to go right for you in the way of injuries, bounces, calls, and other vaguaries of the game that can end the season of even the best of teams suddenly and without any logic. We saw it happen in 2007. The Giants weren't even a top 5 team going into that playoff run. Same thing with the Ravens run a few years later. Hey, if we are honest, that 2011 team had no business getting to the superbowl let alone within 2 minutes of the title.

That is why BB builds a team that he knows can get him into the 2nd season. After that then knows that at least he'll have a shot, and the more shots he has, the more liikely he'll get his share of titles.

4. Thus BB has become comfortable with knowing that he can't keep everyone, even when he is lucky enough to find top 100 players in the draft. When you come to expect to lose a certain percentage of them, then you come to learn to live with that reality, and thus deal with it, better than most.

5. When FTW wrote that the comp system was installed to protect the "protected 6" like the Cowboys Giants and Steelers, it rang very true. I wouldn't be at all surprised he was right. Still trading a top 100 player for player #100 in a draft a year from now, doesn't sound like much of a compensation. Just another shot at the lottery I guess.

We should all never forget that pick #199 in 2000 was a comp pick.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

And they lost a pick trading for Allen. Hardly a free lunch.

Minor point, but they technically didn't lose a pick trading for Allen. They moved back 2 rounds but got a draft pick back in the trade so it was Allen + 4th for the Colts 6th.

I've seen a few articles on how we traded a 2nd for Ealy too so it's been on my mind lately. We got a 3rd plus Ealy. I really like this trade-back scenario BB has kept doing. He clearly has a different value of the market than most, and he can get several guys he wants even in the later rounds so it's often like getting a free asset.

There's probably a marginal difference in talent from the type of prospect available in the 4th vs. the 6th, but you get an asset for waiting.