NFL compensatory picks are extra draft selections the league awards to teams that lost more, or more valuable, qualifying unrestricted free agents than they signed in the previous free agency period. Under the 2020 collective bargaining agreement, up to 32 formula-based compensatory picks are added to each draft, placed at the ends of Rounds 3 through 7, and no team can receive more than four in a year. A separate policy adds special third-round picks for teams whose minority coaches or executives are hired as head coach or general manager elsewhere, which is why the 2026 draft had 33 compensatory picks.
Updated for the 2026 season.
What are NFL compensatory picks?
Article 6, Section 2 of the CBA sets the draft at seven rounds, each with one selection per club, "plus a maximum number of additional Compensatory Draft Selections equal to the number of Clubs then in the League." With 32 clubs, that means a cap of 32 formula picks per draft. Article 6, Section 10 says the picks are determined under the rules in Appendix V of the CBA, the section titled "Compensatory Draft System."
The purpose is to give clubs a way to recover value when free agency costs them players. Over The Cap describes the picks as roughly an eighth round's worth of selections spread across the ends of Rounds 3 to 7. The formula, developed by the NFL Management Council, was not published until it was written into the 2020 CBA, according to Over The Cap.
How do NFL compensatory picks work?
The system runs in three steps: decide which departing players count, value each one, then net each club's losses against its gains.
Who counts as a compensatory free agent?
Appendix V defines a compensatory free agent (CFA) as an unrestricted free agent who signed with a new club before 4 p.m. New York time on the Monday after that year's NFL Draft, and who ranks within the top 35% of all league players under the formula. Signings made after that deadline do not count. Over The Cap notes the cutoff was June 1 before 2015 and the second Tuesday after the draft from 2015 through 2019, and that the qualifying threshold was the top 50% under the 2011 CBA.
Only players whose contracts actually ran out can qualify. Appendix V says no unrestricted free agent becomes a CFA until the "Maximum Possible Term" of his contract, including option years and voidable years, has expired. As Over The Cap puts it, players who are cut are the most common example of free agents who cannot become CFAs. The CBA lists several other exclusions:
- A player whose contract is renegotiated to shorten its maximum term does not qualify.
- A player who signs a Veteran Salary Benefit contract is not a CFA.
- A club may designate a player who signs a one-year deal at or below a set maximum as an "Excluded UFA." The limit was $1.75 million for 2020 and 2021 and rises $20,000 every two league years under the CBA's schedule.
- A franchise or transition player who receives an offer sheet that his club declines to match is not a compensable free agent. A franchise player lost that way brings two first-round picks under Article 10 instead.
- A player whose fifth-year option was declined can still qualify when his four-year rookie contract expires.
How is each player valued?
Appendix V ranks every CFA against all players on rosters at the end of the regular season using a Final Numerical Value built from three parts:
| Component | How points are awarded |
|---|---|
| Average Yearly Compensation | Players are ranked from lowest to highest average pay on the new contract; the lowest-paid player gets 1 point, the next 2 points, and so on |
| Playing time | One point per percentage of offensive or defensive snaps played, with a 25% minimum (special teams excluded) |
| Postseason honors | 20 points for AP first-team All-Pro or PFWA first-team All-NFL; 5 points for PFWA All-Conference |
Kickers and punters are scored on statistics instead of snaps. Punters get a point for each punt and for each punt inside the 20; kickers get two points per field goal attempt and one per field goal made. Average pay counts signing, option, roster and reporting bonuses and base salary, plus incentives and escalators that are earned in the first year or considered likely to be earned.
Which round does each player bring?
Each CFA's value is converted to a percentile among all league players, and the percentile sets the round of the pick:
| CFA's percentile ranking | Compensatory pick placed at end of |
|---|---|
| Top 5% | Round 3 |
| Below top 5%, within top 10% | Round 4 |
| Below top 10%, within top 15% | Round 5 |
| Below top 15%, within top 25% | Round 6 |
| Below top 25%, within top 35% | Round 7 |
One limit applies: a CFA with 10 or more accrued seasons cannot bring a pick before the end of Round 5, unless he is a quarterback.
How does cancellation work?
Only clubs that lose more CFAs than they sign or acquire are eligible, and the number of picks equals the net loss. Appendix V offsets each CFA lost, starting with the highest ranked, against a CFA gained in an equal or higher percentile bracket. Each lost CFA left without a matching gain produces a pick in that player's round, until the club has as many picks as its net loss. A player acquired by trade who was a CFA that league year counts as a CFA gained by the acquiring club.
Over The Cap's explainer describes the matching in practice: a CFA gained cancels the highest-valued CFA lost in the same round; if none is available in that round, it cancels the highest remaining CFA lost from a lower round, and it cancels a higher-round loss only when nothing else is left.
There is one exception for clubs that break even. If a team loses the same number of CFAs as it gains, but the combined value of the players lost is more than 300 points higher than the players gained, it receives one pick after all regular seventh-round compensatory picks, per Appendix V.
What are the limits on compensatory picks?
- Four per team: No club may receive more than four compensatory picks in a year. A club that qualifies for more keeps its four highest.
- 32 per draft: Over The Cap explains that if the formula produces more than 32 picks, those ranked 33rd and lower are not awarded. The only exception it lists is 2016, when the league and union agreed to a 33rd pick.
- Supplemental picks: If fewer than 32 compensatory picks are earned, Article 6 adds "Supplemental Selections" in draft order until the total reaches 32. Over The Cap describes these as placed in the order a theoretical eighth round would follow.
When are compensatory picks announced?
The league announces the awards before the draft. The 2026 picks were announced on March 9, 2026, ahead of the April 23-25 draft in Pittsburgh, per NFL.com. The awards are based on the previous year's free agency, so the 2026 picks compensated for players lost in 2025.
What are the special compensatory picks for minority hires?
NFL owners approved 2020 Resolution JC-2A on Nov. 10, 2020, to reward clubs for developing minority coaches and executives, NFL.com reported. NFL.com's 2026 announcement describes the picks as an amendment to the 2020 CBA meant to promote equal employment opportunity.
Under the resolution text, published by Pro Football Talk:
- A club whose minority employee is hired by another club as head coach or primary football executive (general manager) receives a third-round compensatory pick in each of the next two drafts.
- If a club has two employees hired for both positions, by the same club or different clubs, it receives a third-round pick in each of the next three drafts.
- The employee must have worked for the club for at least two full seasons, must not already hold that title with his current club, and must move directly to the same position with no break in employment.
- These picks come at the end of Round 3, after all formula-based compensatory picks, and when several clubs receive them they are ordered by the original draft order.
The special picks sit outside the formula's limits. Over The Cap notes they are not subject to the 32-pick cap or the four-per-team maximum, which is how a draft can have more than 32 compensatory picks. Pro Football Talk reported the first use of the rule in January 2021, when the Lions hired Rams executive Brad Holmes as general manager, giving the Rams third-round picks in 2021 and 2022.
Can compensatory picks be traded?
Yes. NFL clubs passed a resolution on Dec. 2, 2015, making compensatory picks tradable beginning in 2017, NFL.com reported. The Competition Committee had recommended the change as a way to give clubs more flexibility in draft preparation. The 2026 list shows it in practice: the special third-round pick awarded to Detroit was traded to Jacksonville before the draft.
Who got compensatory picks in 2026?
The NFL awarded 33 compensatory picks to 15 teams for the 2026 draft, per NFL.com: 32 formula picks plus one special pick. Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh each received the maximum four. The National Football Post also covered the three teams that received four picks.
| Team | Picks | Overall selections |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Ravens | 4 | 173, 174, 250, 253 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 4 | 98, 137, 178, 215 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 4 | 99, 135, 214, 216 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 3 | 133, 138, 139 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 2 | 177, 180 |
| Denver Broncos | 2 | 256, 257 |
| Detroit Lions | 2 (includes 1 special pick) | 100 (special pick, traded to Jacksonville), 181 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 2 | 249, 254 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | 2 | 134, 175 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 2 | 251, 252 |
| New York Jets | 2 | 140, 179 |
| Green Bay Packers | 1 | 255 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 1 | 176 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 1 | 97 |
| New Orleans Saints | 1 | 136 |
Highest 2026 compensatory picks
Four picks were placed at the end of the third round: No. 97 to Minnesota, No. 98 to Philadelphia, No. 99 to Pittsburgh and No. 100 to Jacksonville by way of Detroit. The No. 100 pick was the special selection awarded to the Lions after the Jets hired former Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn as head coach in 2025, per NFL.com. By round, the 2026 list had 4 picks in Round 3, 8 in Round 4, 9 in Round 5, 3 in Round 6 and 9 in Round 7.
What do 2027 compensatory pick projections show?
Over The Cap publishes running projections based on each season's free agent moves, and as of Nov. 11, 2026, its page projects formula picks at the end of Round 3 for Philadelphia (for Jaelan Phillips) and Cincinnati (for Trey Hendrickson). These are projections, not awards. Over The Cap cautions that cuts, injuries, playing time and postseason honors during the season can change the picks, and nothing is final until the league releases the official list, typically in March.
Related reference pages
Sources
- NFL-NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement (2020), Article 6: College Draft — Over The Cap
- NFL-NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement (2020), Appendix V: Compensatory Draft System — Over The Cap
- 2026 NFL Draft: NFL awards 33 compensatory picks to 15 teams (March 9, 2026) — NFL.com
- NFL owners pass resolution rewarding teams for developing minority coaches, execs (Nov. 10, 2020) — NFL.com
- NFL compensatory picks for minority coaches and executives explained, with full text of 2020 Resolution JC-2A (Jan. 14, 2021) — Pro Football Talk / NBC Sports
- Compensatory picks to be tradable beginning in 2017 (Dec. 2, 2015) — NFL.com
- The Basics and Methodology of Projecting the NFL's Compensatory Draft Picks — Over The Cap
- Compensatory Formula — Over The Cap
- Compensatory Picks: past awards and 2027 projections (accessed Nov. 11, 2026) — Over The Cap