An updated history of Chiefs compensatory pick selections

The Kansas City Chiefs won’t have a compensatory pick in 2020. Find the complete history of the players they’ve selected here.

Compensatory draft picks are awarded to NFL teams based on players gained and lost in free agency the season prior. They’re awarded better and more compensatory picks based on the quality of the players lost and gained in addition to the value of the contracts they sign. Teams can gain up to a maximum of four compensatory picks any given year.

This season the Kansas City Chiefs are without a compensatory draft pick. They lost four qualifying free agents but signed four players, which canceled out those signings. In the past, they’ve added some solid pieces to their team using compensatory picks. Kansas City has been awarded a total of 25 compensatory picks since they were introduced in 1994. However, they’ve only selected 21 players as they traded three compensatory selections in 2017 and one in 2018.

Here is an updated history of all the players that the Chiefs have selected in the NFL draft using a compensatory pick:

2019: RB Darwin Thompson

Thompson was selected in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL draft with the 214th pick. He had an exciting preseason for Kansas City but got off to a slow start once the regular season kicked off. He finished the season with 128 rushing yards on 37 carries with one touchdown. You can find our full write-up on Thompson’s rookie season here.

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From 2010 to now: Vikings players who were compensatory draft picks

Here’s a look back at the Vikings players who were compensatory draft picks this past decade.

This week, Minnesota was awarded three compensatory draft picks.

Compensatory draft picks are awarded to a team based off free agency losses and gains. The most compensatory picks a team could have received was four, so three is pretty good. The Vikings received a third round pick and two seventh round picks.

That third round pick will really come in handy for the Vikings, considering this could be an offseason that sees a lot of veteran talent finding elsewhere to play.

So how much success do the Vikings have when it comes to compensatory picks? Here is a quick breakdown of each Vikings player drafted with a compensatory pick in the past decade.

2019: WR Bisi Johnson, seventh round

The Vikings got solid production out of Johnson for where they drafted him. He was third among Minnesota wideouts in receiving yards this past season. He filled in when Adam Thielen was hurt at times. Overall, he was a good choice that added depth to a position that occasionally needed it.

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Breaking down Draft Wire’s latest 7-round mock draft projections for Chiefs

Draft Wire has the Kansas City Chiefs adding defense early and filling out the offense later in the draft.

Now that the compensatory picks have been released, our friends over at Draft Wire have released fresh 7-round mock draft projections. This is the first mock draft from Draft Wire for the Kansas City Chiefs with the correct draft slots for their fourth and fifth-round selections. Keep in mind the Chiefs don’t currently have any picks beyond the fifth round. That could change in the future if they make some trades.

Here’s a look at Luke Easterling’s choices for the Chiefs along with my thoughts on those choices.

32. Iowa DL A.J. Epenesa

The first-round pick for the Chiefs remains unchanged from Easterling’s post-combine mock draft. You can read about that pick here. Epenesa is a player that previously had some hype as one of the top players in this class. A bad combine performance has draft analyst’s unsure of where he’ll land.

One thing is for certain, the fans of Kansas City like the idea of adding Epenesa. Here are a few comments from our Facebook feed on the article linked above:

“I would be way too excited to trade my black and gold ‘Eppy’ jersey in for a red and gold one,” said Tim Van Zee.

“As an Iowa boy, this is my dream pick this draft,” said Adam Johnson

“I would be shocked if he lasts until 32,” said Randy Rodi

A tried and true draft strategy is to reinforce the trenches early. I could certainly see the defensive line getting a new piece like Epenesa in the 2020 NFL draft.

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Vikings Wire draft simulation with new compensatory picks

Now that the Vikings have been awarded compensatory picks, how does that change the draft for the team? Here is a simulation from Vikings Wire with the new picks included.

The Vikings were awarded three compensatory draft picks for the 2020 NFL Draft.

I wanted to see how that would change the strategy of the draft, especially in the third round, where the team now has two picks. More draft picks, in addition to good players getting picked before the Vikings could take them, led to this draft being harder than the first simulation I did.

I drafted the best player available in the first round, which was Alabama safety Xavier McKinney. From there, I attempted to stitch together a draft class that could benefit the Vikings for next season.

Defensive tackle remains a tough position for me to draft when I’m doing a simulation. It seems like I either have to draft a defensive tackle who’s supposed to be taken in the next round, or hold off and miss out on more talent on the interior defensive line.

You can see what other teams did in the simulation here.

Here is who I decided to take, followed by a brief explanation for why I chose them. I did this simulation at The Draft Network.

Round 1: Alabama safety Xavier McKinney

Like I said, Xavier McKinney was my first-round choice. He seemed like the best player available at the time, and Minnesota could use a safety for next season if Anthony Harris walks. McKinney paired with Harrison Smith at safety could be menacing for opposing offenses.

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The 23 teams with the most comp picks since 1994

Tom Brady and Dak Prescott are two of the top players picked by teams using compensatory NFL Draft picks.

The great Gil Brandt tweeted a list of the teams with the most compensatory draft picks since 1994. Taking a look at what teams wound up with the most picks and who some of them turned out to be.

Los Angeles Chargers 20 picks

The Chargers selected JaTavis Brown in the fifth round (175th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft. Brown was the first linebacker drafted from Akron. He also became the 15th player drafted from Akron since the inception of the NFL Draft in 1936. In 2018, he posted a career-high 97 tackles and he has 265 total tackles in his NFL career.

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No additional compensatory picks awarded for 49ers

There’s a good chance the 49ers are awarded multiple comp picks in the 2021 draft.

The 49ers weren’t awarded any compensatory picks Tuesday when the additional NFL draft selections were announced.

Comp picks are awarded to teams that incur a net loss in the previous year’s free agency. Since San Francisco didn’t lose any key free agents last offseason, while making moves like signing linebacker Kwon Alexander and re-signing free safety Jimmie Ward, they didn’t have what the comp pick formula considered to be a ‘net loss.’

The formula is a secret that takes salary, playing time and postseason awards into account, although it doesn’t apply to every free agent that hits the market.

The Patriots were given four comp picks – the maximum amount allowed. Seattle received three comp picks. The Rams picked up one additional selection. Arizona, like the 49ers, was shut out.

The full list of compensatory picks in the 2020 NFL Draft: pic.twitter.com/QKADDS4yPu

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 10, 2020

There’s a good chance the 49ers are a factor in the comp pick formula next season, especially if they lose any free agents like Arik Armstead, Emmanuel Sanders or Jimmie Ward. Losing all three of them, while unlikely, would surely mean San Francisco would acquire a heavy load of comp picks in the 2021 draft.

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2020 NFL Draft: Updated Saints selections after compensatory picks reveal

The New Orleans Saints learned when each of their selections in the 2020 NFL Draft will take place, after compensatory picks were announced.

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We knew that the New Orleans Saints would only have five picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, even once compensatory selections were awarded. That’s because the Saints have been too aggressive in spending on the open market to even qualify. But now that those extra picks have been announced, we know exactly when and where the Saints will make their pick in each round of April’s draft (at least until an inevitable trade up or two). Here’s where things stand on the cusp of free agency:

Round 1, No. 24
Round 3, No. 88
Round 4, No. 130
Round 5, No. 169
Round 6, No. 203

The Saints lack their second- and seventh-round picks after trades that netted players like Erik McCoy, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Eli Apple, but fans shouldn’t sweat it. The team certainly won’t be worried, with Saints coach Sean Payton joking that they could easily turn five picks into six selections with a trade. That would fly in the face of precedent — the Saints have traded up in every draft Payton has managed, and only traded down twice, in his first few years on the job — but it would be a welcome change of pace given the state of the team.

The Saints have many veteran players headed for free agency, and they won’t be able to re-sign every one of them. They need to begin replenishing the roster with cheap, younger talent before it’s too late. The 2020 free agent class especially looks like a pivot-point in which the Saints might set themselves up to recoup some draft capital through compensatory picks, with at least eight potential qualifiers headed for free agency.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Owning just five of the 256 selections in this year’s draft may not be ideal, but it’s the same position the Saints found themselves in last year, and they managed to land rookie starters like McCoy and Gardner-Johnson, as well as undrafted finds like All-Pro returns ace Deonte Harris and standout defensive linemen Shy Tuttle and Carl Granderson. So long as Jeff Ireland is running the scouting department and Payton is calling the shots on top of draft day, New Orleans football appears to be in good hands.

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Chiefs’ updated 2020 NFL draft picks

We now know where the Kansas City Chiefs will draft in the fourth and fifth rounds.

Now that the NFL has finally released the compensatory picks, we have the complete order for the 2020 NFL draft.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ first three picks in the draft will go unchanged, but their selections in the fourth and fifth rounds will come a little later. The addition of compensatory picks following the third and fourth rounds will push back the Chiefs’ selections in the fourth and fifth rounds slightly.

Here is the updated draft order for Kansas City:

Pick No. 32
Pick No. 63 (via 49ers)
Pick No. 96
Pick No. 138 (previously 128)
Pick No. 178 (previously 160)

The Chiefs received the 49ers second-round pick in the trade for LB Dee Ford. Kansas City sent Seattle their original second-round pick along with 2019’s first-round pick in the trade for DE Frank Clark. They also traded 2020’s sixth-round pick to the New York Jets for LB Darron Lee and 2020’s seventh-round selection to Miami for DB Jordan Lucas.

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General manager Brett Veach has his work cut out for him with just five selections in this draft. The bar was raised after he came away with a great draft class in 2019. Luckily, three of his selections in 2020 will come within the top 100 picks, assuming he doesn’t trade down. Considering the history Veach has with trades, Kansas City will be exploring all options including trading up, down and for established players in the league.

The 2020 NFL draft will take place in Las Vegas from April 23-25.

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Saints don’t receive any compensatory draft picks in 2020 — what gives?

The New Orleans Saints did not qualify for any compensatory picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, due to their aggressive free agency strategy.

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The NFL announced its allocation of compensatory picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, with 15 of the league’s 32 teams receiving extra selections in this year’s cycle. The New England Patriots led the way with four additional picks, but as usual, the New Orleans Saints were not counted in that number.

What’s the deal with that? Why don’t the Saints ever bag another pick here or there? The exact formula for awarding compensatory picks isn’t something the NFL makes public, but the analysts at Over The Cap have done a great job of approximating it in recent years.

The summarize their findings: the NFL divides compensatory picks among teams that lose more unrestricted free agents than they gained in the previous free agency cycle — above a certain salary threshold. That excludes players whose contracts were terminated as well as restricted and exclusive-rights free agents. And that methodology doesn’t jive with the Saints’ strategy of addressing roster needs in free agency, setting the stage for the team to select the best prospects available.

In other words: the Saints rarely qualify for compensatory draft picks because they are too active in free agency, adding more players than they typically lose. Just look at last year’s crop:

Qualifying free agents lost

DE Alex Okafor (to the Kansas City Chiefs)
RB Mark Ingram (to the Baltimore Ravens)

Qualifying free agents added

TE Jared Cook (from the Oakland Raiders)
G/C Nick Easton (from the Minnesota Vikings)
NT Malcom Brown (from the New England Patriots)
DL Mario Edwards Jr. (from the New York Giants)

That means the Saints added two more qualifiers than they lost last offseason, putting them in the red against the compensatory pick calculations. The strategy obviously paid off, with the Saints winning 13 games in the regular season and entering the postseason as legitimate Super Bowl favorites, so it’s tough to argue with their results.

However, there’s a good chance that this trend reverses in 2021. The Saints have at least eight pending free agents who should become qualifiers once the dust settles on the open market, with backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater likely the team’s best chance at recouping draft capital. Ironically, he projects to bring back a third-round pick. That’s the same selection the Saints traded to acquire him in the first place.

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Lions receive zero compensatory picks in 2020, as expected

The Detroit Lions have not been awarded any compensatory picks in the 2020 NFL draft, as most experts projected.

The formula for awarding compensatory picks is still a guarded secret in the NFL, but the foundational principle is if a team loses more assets than it gains in free agency, then the following draft they will be compensated with additional draft picks.

During the 2019 offseason, the Lions were very much spenders in free agency, investing in players like Trey Flowers, Justin Coleman, Jesse James, Rashaan Melvin, Logan Thomas, and Oday Aboushi. Additionally, the players they lost to free agency didn’t sign any impactful contracts with other teams further hindering the Lions situation.

While the NFL’s formula is a secret, some knowledgable writers have been historically accurate in projecting what the NFL will do. Here’s a look at Over the Cap’s 2020 Compensatory pick cancellation chart:

As you can clearly see, the Lions were not expecting any additional draft picks this cycle.

Now that the compensatory picks have been added to this years pool, the Lions current 2020 draft picks are:

Round 1, pick 3
Round 2, pick 35
Round 3, pick 67
Round 4, pick 109
Round 5, pick 149 and 172
Round 6, pick 182

Here’s a full look at the compensatory picks that were awarded for the 2020 NFL draft:

With the current CBA being debated by owners, NFLPA, and players, it’s unclear if compensatory picks will be part of the league future, but if they are and the Lions are interested in adding them next draft, they’ll have to be smart with how they approach this year’s free agency period.