Pittsburgh Steelers receive zero compensatory picks ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft
It's not fun when a team loses a big name in free agency, but at least there's a chance to mitigate the loss, somewhat, thanks to the NFL's compensatory draft pick system.How the actual system works is unknown, but the method of determining which teams receive what picks essentially boils down to as such: The […]
It's not fun when a team loses a big name in free agency, but at least there's a chance to mitigate the loss, somewhat, thanks to the NFL's compensatory draft pick system.How the actual system works is unknown, but the method of determining which teams receive what picks essentially boils down to as such:
The bigger the contract signed by the departed player, the higher the draft pick, but teams will never receive anything higher than a third-rounder. But, the picks get cancelled out once teams sign a player or players in free agency. The NFL awards 32 picks, in all, each year and teams are given no more than four picks.
Nowadays, teams are also awarded third-round compensatory selections for two years if they lose a minority coach or executive to a promotion with another team. And, they receive individual picks for each coach/executive, like the San Francisco 49ers and DeMeco Ryans and Ran Carthon.
No Picks for Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh lost six players to free agency in 2023, some of whom played starting roles for other teams like Terrell Edmunds, Devin Bush, Cam Sutton and Robert Spillane. But with none of them signing a hefty contract and Pittsburgh signing eight free agents of their own in 2023, the team once again will be without an extra draft pick via compensatory selection.
Part of that is due to draft misses on players like Edmunds and Bush, who were never going to demand a big free agent market, leaving them to sign elsewhere at lesser amounts that wouldn't afford Pittsburgh extra draft capital.
