As every football fan knows, one of the most important dates in the NFL calendar is the NFL Draft. 

Some teams rely heavily on their picks to play a crucial role in the teams' success, such as the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys are known for being bargain bin shoppers in free agency with most of their attention being turned towards the NFL Draft.

Now whether that is a successful plan of approach is a debate for another day but one thing is paramount if you're going to make this your strategy: The hit rate on your selections. With the hit rate being such a crucial element, you should want as many chances to take a swing as possible.

That is where comp picks come into play.

Comp picks (or compensatory picks) is a system where teams are awarded extra draft selections to make up for free agents leaving the team a year prior. The bigger the contract a new team signs a player for, the higher the selection the old team will get awarded.

Comp picks have played a big part in the building of the current Cowboys roster.

Players like QB Dak Prescott, C Tyler Biadasz, S Donovan Wilson, and LB Damone Clark were all compensatory selections who have carved out significant roles for the Cowboys over the past few years. 

Cowboys 2024 projected compensatory picks

Over the Cap just released their projected compensatory picks for the 2024 NFL Draft. These are not final, but they give fans a good idea of what to expect when the official picks are announced. 

The Cowboys came away with two selections. In this projection, the Cowboys gained the following:

• Fifth-round selection for their loss of iOL Connor McGovern to the Buffalo Bills.
• Sixth-round selection for their loss of TE Dalton Schultz to the Houston Texans. 

Only up to 32 compensatory picks are awarded each year, and if it were not for that NFL rule the Cowboys would have gained an additional one in the seventh round for their loss of Noah Brown to the Houston Texans. Although a seventh rounder might not sound like much, the Cowboys have found a lot of value in that round in Brown and more recently, Jalen Brooks for example. 

The Cowboys' best hit rate from compensatory selections has come in the fourth round. And if this projection holds true, they won't have any. This might need to be a wake-up call to the Cowboys to get away from the philosophy of "we like our guys."

It's worth noting that compensatory picks will be likely be made official near the start of free agency but there is no official date for the announcement. 

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