Bengals projected to receive two compensatory picks for 2024 NFL Draft
NFL Draft compensatory picks used to be extremely common practice for the Cincinnati Bengals. Compensatory picks, or just comp picks, are awarded to clubs who lost more contractual value in free agency than they gained. Once the club started diving into the expensive waters of free agency circa 2020, the Bengals found themselves bringing in more […]
NFL Draft compensatory picks used to be extremely common practice for the Cincinnati Bengals. Compensatory picks, or just comp picks, are awarded to clubs who lost more contractual value in free agency than they gained.
Once the club started diving into the expensive waters of free agency circa 2020, the Bengals found themselves bringing in more value than they'd lose. This prohibited any comp picks from flowing Cincinnati's way.
That's expected to change this year.
Over The Cap's Nick Korte, who projects compensatory picks every year, has the Bengals landing two comp picks on Day 3 of the draft.
Vonn Bell signing with the Carolina Panthers is expected to net the Bengals a fifth-round pick, while Samaje Perine joining the Denver Broncos should land them a seventh-round pick, according to Korte.
Why are the Bengals getting compensatory picks?
Think of a balance sheet with assets on one side and liabilities on the other. Assets in this case is the value of players the Bengals lost in free agency, and liabilities is the value the Bengals gained. It sounds backwards, but when assets are greater than liabilities in this case, comp picks are the result.
The Bengals watched Jessie Bates III, Hayden Hurst, Bell, and Perine leave last offseason. All of their contracts were among the 32-most expensive deals given out during free agency. Only 32 comp picks are distributed every year, so in order to earn one, the contract of the player a club loses has to be among that list of 32.
While they lost four players in the top 32, they only gained two. Orlando Brown Jr. and Nick Scott's contracts were large enough to make the cut as well.
Brown and Bates' deal were almost identical in Average Annual Value, so they cancel each other out. Hurst and Scott's deals are also considered the same tier, so they cancel out as well. This leaves Bell and Perine on the assets side with no liabilities left.
Korte is usually very accurate in his projections, so while this isn't confirmed, it is expected that the Bengals will land these comp picks when they're announced later in the offseason.
Every Bengals free agent entering 2024 offseason
A complete list of Bengals players with expiring contracts.
