Steelers projected to land 3rd-round compensatory draft pick

The Steelers should have a third-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

The Pittsburgh Steelers worked an in-season trade to land safety Minkah Fitzpatrick which cost them their first-round pick in 2020. They also traded their 2020 third-round pick as part of the deal that brought the Steelers linebacker Devin Bush, leaving with them with only a second-round pick in the first three rounds.

But according to Nick Korte at Over The Cap, Pittsburgh might recoup at least one of those picks. He projects the Steelers to land a third-round comp pick due to the loss of running back Le’Veon Bell in free agency.

There was a point in the season when this pick was in jeopardy. Compensatory picks are based on a formula of players lost and signed and value of contracts.

Originally, the Philadelphia Eagles signed linebacker L.J. Fort from Pittsburgh which balanced out the Steelers signing wide receiver Donte Moncrief. But when the Eagles released Fort, this disrupted the algorithm and would have likely turned that third-round pick into a fourth-round pick, had the Steelers not opted to release Moncrief.

The Steelers need to do a fairly major re-work of their offense and could have a couple of holes to plug on the other side of the football as well. Every pick is going to be valuable.

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