Losing center Corey Linsley and running back Jamaal Williams in free agency should net the Green Bay Packers a pair of compensatory picks in the 2022 NFL draft.
Over the Cap projects the Packers to receive a fourth-round pick for losing Linsley to the Los Angeles Chargers and a sixth-round pick for losing Jamaal Williams to the Detroit Lions, although there’s still a chance the fourth-round pick for Linsley could turn into a third-rounder.
Linsley is one of six players right at the cutoff between a third- and fourth-round pick.
Nick Korte of Over the Cap explains: “However, for those who are hoping for teams with 4th rounders to see those picks upgraded to 3rd rounders, that hope is founded, with two possibilities on how it could be fulfilled. One is if the formula considers fewer leaguewide players than last year’s number of approximately 1,944, which is what the 2022 projection is currently using. That precise number will be unknowable until the conclusion of the regular season. The other is if the players in question beat their estimated snap count percentages, an estimation of which the projection uses a snap count average over the past four seasons.”
Linsley’s playing time estimate for 2021 is 89.9 percent, so if he plays a higher percentage of the Chargers’ snaps than 89.9 percent next season, the pick should be elevated to a third-round pick.
The deadline for free-agent signings to count against the NFL’s compensatory pick formula has passed, so the Packers can sign any player without fear of losing or downgrading either of their two projected compensatory picks.
The only teams projected to get a third-round compensatory pick are the Pittsburgh Steelers (Bud Dupree) and Detroit Lions (Kenny Golladay).
The Packers received three compensatory picks in the 2021 draft: one in the fourth round, one in the fifth round and one in the sixth round. They took offensive lineman Royce Newman, cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles and linebacker Isaiah McDuffie.
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