NFL Draft 2015 Compensatory Picks: Team-by-Team Breakdown

On Monday evening, the NFL announced the list of 32 compensatory picks that were divided up among 14 NFL teams during the league's owner meetings. 

While the exact process of assigning the selections isn't known, teams are awarded compensatory picks based upon free agents they lost in the previous offseason, with the best picks generally granted to the teams who were hit hardest by free-agent departures.

The NFL offered more background on the process, via a press release:

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Under the rules for compensatory draft selections, a team losing more or better compensatory free agents than it acquires in the previous year is eligible to receive compensatory draft picks.

The number of picks a team receives equals the net loss of compensatory free agents up to a maximum of four. The 32 compensatory choices announced today will supplement the 224 choices in the seven rounds of the 2015 NFL Draft held on April 30-May 2 in Chicago.

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The picks can be used in Rounds 3 through 7 at the end of each round and cannot be traded—though the players drafted with those picks can be traded once they are selected.

Below, you'll find the full list of picks awarded as well as the impact it has on various franchises.

Compensatory Picks

Round 3

• No. 97 New England
• No. 98 Kansas City
• No. 99 Cincinnati

Round 4

• No. 132 San Francisco
• No. 133 Denver
• No. 134 Seattle
• No. 135 Cincinnati
• No. 136 Baltimore

Round 5

• No. 169 Carolina
• No. 170 Seattle
• No. 171 Baltimore
• No. 172 Kansas City
• No. 173 Kansas City
• No. 174 Carolina
• No. 175 Houston
• No. 176 Baltimore

Round 6

• No. 209 Seattle
• No. 210 Green Bay
• No. 211 Houston
• No. 212 Pittsburgh
• No. 214 Seattle
• No. 215 St. Louis
• No. 216 Houston
• No. 217 Kansas City

Round 7

• No. 250 Denver
• No. 251 Denver
• No. 253 New England
• No. 254 San Francisco
• No. 255 Indianapolis
• No. 256 Arizona

Mike Klis of The Denver Post noted that the NFL had acknowledged a mistake with the Broncos pick, moving it from the sixth round (pick 208), to the seventh round (pick 250). 

Black & Blue Review revealed that the Panthers' fifth-round pick has been changed from No. 200 to No. 201, and their sixth-round pick (No. 213) has been changed to No. 174 in Round 5.

The Pittsburgh Steelers also confirmed that one of their picks was moved from the 252nd pick overall to the 212th in a release on the team website.

Analysis

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

As usual, the Baltimore Ravens did well for themselves in the compensatory picks department, earning a fourth-round selection and two picks in the fifth. This is nothing new for the Ravens, of course, as Chris Wesseling of NFL.com noted:

New England notched the top pick, almost assuredly due to cornerback Aqib Talib's departure, while Kansas City's loss of several players was likely a huge factor in the team receiving four picks overall, including a third-rounder.

But nobody "won" the compensatory pick designations like the Cincinnati Bengals, as Andrew Brandt of ESPN tweeted:

The fact that Cincinnati also received a fourth-round compensatory pick is simply icing on the cake.

Denver—which lost Robert Ayers, Eric Decker, Jeremy Mincey, Knowshon Moreno, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Wesley Woodyard, among others—and Seattle (Brandon Browner, Golden Tate, Walter Thurmond) joined Kansas City as the teams claiming four compensatory picks.

The Houston Texans received three picks alongside Baltimore while the Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, Patriots and Bengals each received two selections. Arizona, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and St. Louis all received one.

It isn't hard to guess a few teams that will likely do well for themselves in this process next year. After losing Ndamukong Suh, for instance, the Detroit Lions are virtually a lock to find themselves with a third-round pick while the loss of Darrelle Revis will probably earn the Patriots a nice compensatory selection.