Interesting note to pass along from ESPN's Adam Schefter.
 | @AdamSchefter | |
For first time this spring, NFL expected to allow teams to begin trading compensatory draft picks, per NFL sources. Should be more trades.
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In the past, compensatory draft picks — issued to teams that suffered a net loss in free agency the year prior — couldn't be traded and had to be used by the teams receiving them. This is a game changer. For smart teams that don't overspend in free agency, this would allow more flexibility in next spring's draft.
The picks typically are announced at the NFL's owners meetings in March, and we'd expect based on Schefter's report that a decision on making them tradeable commodities would come at the same time. The formula to decide which teams receive the 32 annual compensatory picks, which is based on salary and quality of play of the players departing their former teams, is complex and not widely known. But the end-of-round selections in Rounds 3 through 7 have netted some star players.
Tom Brady, Matt Hasselbeck, Hines Ward, Marques Colston, Larry Allen and Brian Dawkins are some of the most famous compensatory picks all time.
The Detroit Lions (having lost Ndamukong Suh), New England Patriots (Darrelle Revis), Seattle Seahawks (Byron Maxwell), Baltimore Ravens (Pernell McPhee) and Denver Broncos (Julius Thomas) figure to be some teams that receive high picks in return for their losses.
The Ravens, in particular, have benefitted from the system the most since its inception in 1994 with 44 total selections received. Part of their free-agency approach has been a willingness to let overpriced free agents walk knowing that they draft well and will receive picks back while saving money and remaining in solid salary cap shape. The Patriots also have followed this model, and it has proven to be a smart approach.
The team with the fewest compensatory picks over the past 20-plus years? The Cleveland Browns, with a mere six. Go figure.
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