Len Pasquarelli

NFL
Scores
Schedules
Standings
Statistics
Transactions
Injuries
Players
Message Board
NFL en español
FEATURES
NFL Draft
Photo gallery
Power Rankings
NFL Insider
CLUBHOUSE


ESPN MALL
TeamStore
ESPN Auctions
SPORT SECTIONS
Tuesday, March 25
 
Teams find value with compensatory picks

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

Unlike the implementation of major rules changes, and other game-related proposals, one element that can always be counted on at the annual league meetings in March is the awarding of compensatory draft choices to those franchises which suffered a net loss in free agency the previous spring.

2003 compensatory picks
Round Overall Team
4 131 Philadelphia
4 132 Jacksonville
4 133 Tampa Bay
4 134 Baltimore
4 135 Seattle
5 169 Miami
5 170 St. Louis
5 171 Chicago
5 172 St. Louis
5 173 Baltimore
6 206 Chicago
6 207 N.Y. Giants
6 208 Indianapolis
6 209 Miami
6 210 Arizona
6 211 N.Y. Giants
6 212 Green Bay
6 213 Miami
7 248 Miami
7 249 N.Y. Giants
7 250 Baltimore
7 251 St. Louis
7 252 Kansas City
7 253 Green Bay
7 254 St. Louis
7 255 N.Y. Giants
7 256 Green Bay
7 257 Green Bay
7 258 Baltimore
7 259 Cincinnati
7 260 Detroit
7 261 Chicago

It is a staple of the NFL spring, however, that is generally overlooked and typically relegated to the agate-type page of the sports section. Even in the years when the annual league meeting generates virtually no hard news, the announcement of compensatory picks is barely a blip on the radar screen.

Except for the teams that benefit from the fairly esoteric rewards system.

"(When) somebody gives you an extra draft pick, and you can turn it into another young body, that's an advantage you can't ignore," said Baltimore Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome, whose team was awarded four additional selections in next month's draft, when league officials announced all the compensatory choices on Monday afternoon. "Those compensatory choices, believe me, are more important than people realize."

In some cases, in fact, they have been far more important.

Prime example: The New England Patriots chose quarterback Tom Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 draft with one of two compensatory selections they had in that stanza. There is no guarantee that Brady, the most valuable player in the team's Super Bowl XXXVI victory, would have been around for the Pats in the seventh round.

"You wonder," said New England owner Robert Kraft, "how history might have been changed, huh?"

Dallas Cowboys guard Larry Allen, a likely Hall of Fame candidate when his career ends, entered the league as a compensatory choice in 1994. So did former Arizona Cardinals free safety Pat Tillman (1998 as a seventh-round pick), who stepped back from football last year to join the Army Rangers, and is now deployed in the Middle East.

Other notable compensatory draft choices include defensive tackle La'Roi Glover (Oakland, fifth round in 1996), tailback Amos Zereoue (Pittsburgh, third round in 1999), guard Edwin Mulitalo (Baltimore, fourth round in 1999), guard Marco Rivera (Green Bay, sixth round in 1996), cornerback Tyrone Williams (Green Bay, third round in 1996), tight end Jay Riemersma (Buffalo, seventh round in 1996), and return specialist Chad Morton (New Orleans, fifth round in 2000).

The compensatory picks are awarded annually by the Management Council, the league's labor arm, under an esoteric computation more difficult to crack than the formula for McDonald's secret Big Mac sauce. The formula is said to be based on salary, playing time and postseason honors and not every player gained or lost by a team in free agency is covered.

The maximum number of compensatory choices a franchise can receive in a given year is four and there were five teams this week -- Baltimore, Green Bay, Miami, the New York Giants and St. Louis -- who reached that limit. If the compensatory selections don't quite represent a draft windfall, since the highest of the additional picks isn't exercised until near the end of the fourth round, they are still coveted by most teams.

Total comp picks
Since the league began awarding compensatory draft picks in 1993, there are 10 franchises that have gained a dozen or more additional selections as a result of the system. Here are those 10 teams:
Team Picks
Dallas 23
Green Bay 21
Buffalo 20
Arizona 14
N.Y. Giants 14
Jacksonville 13
Philadelphia 13
Pittsburgh 13
Baltimore 12
Minnesota 12

While the general public might view the compensatory choices as just a few crumbs doled out by the Management Council, consolation prizes for clubs that suffered notable free agency defections, the teams don't agree the extra picks aren't meaningful.

"Our picks this year come the second day (of the draft) and that's when we tend to focus in on 'need' players," said St. Louis general manager Charley Armey, whose club received two extra choices in the fifth and seventh rounds. "It just so happens that, this year, there is some depth at positions where we need help. So, yeah, the (compensatory) picks definitely can turn into some guys that make our team."

Philadelphia, which lost starting middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter in 2002 after rescinding the "franchise" tag from him, has the highest compensatory choice, the 131st pick overall in next month's draft. Eagles officials actually hoped to glean an extra third-round choice for losing Trotter to Washington. But they still have enough confidence in the ability of their scouts to locate legitimate prospects in the middle rounds that they feel good about the odds of landing a contributing player with that extra fourth-round selection.

Just by the definition of where the compensatory picks fall in a draft, it is indeed those franchises which make prudent decisions in the middle rounds that benefit the most from them. Ron Wolf, the former Green Bay general manager, used to unearth a solid player every year, it seemed, with one of the Packers' compensatory choices.

Buffalo general manager Tom Donahoe, whose team was shut out of the compensatory process this year, certainly understands the significance of owning additional middle-round selections. The Bills acquired two current starters, offensive left tackle Jonas Jennings (2001) and strong safety Coy Wire (2002), with third-round compensatory choices.

"It still comes down to making good choices," said Donahoe, "but it never hurts to have a few more chances."

That is especially true in the age of the salary cap, when every team needs a quota of middle- and late-round rookies to earn roster spots, in order to help balance the budget. Finding a prospect in those rounds is clearly a bonus, since the team gains a player who it knows will represent fixed costs (and usually at minimum salaries) for the ensuing three or four years.

"Without a subset of 'cheap labor,' the cap won't work," said the primary contract negotiator for one NFC team. "You need those middle-round guys to make the team. And if you get a compensatory choice or two, that just improves the odds you'll get some of those middle-round rookies, right?"

Even the seventh-round compensatory choices have value because it means a franchise can gain exclusive negotiating rights to some players over whom they would have had to battle for as undrafted free agents. Green Bay, for instance, has three compensatory choices in the seventh round this year. That means the Packers can choose a few players they might otherwise have had to compete for against other teams as prime free agents.

Chances are they won't find a Tom Brady with any of those seventh-round compensatory picks but, as history has indicated, the Packers probably will identify a prospect or two who will make their roster.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.






 More from ESPN...
NFL to stop using all-star officiating crews for playoffs
The NFL plans to use intact ...

NFL to stop using all-star officiating crews for playoffs
The NFL may not know until ...

Kreidler: Expansion is narrow-minded
The NFL shouldn't penalize ...

Dungy says pressure for minority hiring should come from inside
Tony Dungy says pressure from ...

Len Pasquarelli Archive

 ESPN Tools
Email story
 
Most sent
 
Print story
 
Daily email