Where things stand with possible compensatory fourth round pick the Lions can get from D.J. Reed’s injury
Things are siting prety good for the Lions to get an extra fourth round pick
One of the more interesting developments to watch this year has been the compensatory pick formula and how it could yield a compensatory fourth-round pick for the Detroit Lions in the 2026 NFL Draft. Here’s an update on all of that.
The Lions are still in position to get a compensatory fourth-round pick for the loss of Carlton Davis
Because Carlton Davis left the Lions when his contract ended, he is a compensatory free agent. D.J. Reed is also a CFA. When a CFA replaces a CFA, it usually cancels out a compensatory pick. But if the replacing CFA doesn’t play a certain number of snaps, the formula views that as a loss for the Lions. They lost a healthy player and got an injured one.
When Reed got injured in Week 4, the watch was on. At that time, Over The Cap’s compensatory pick expert Nick Korte explained that Reed was at 48% of the required snaps, and the Lions were just missing the pick. If he went below that, they could potentially get it. Then Reed missed significant time. He missed almost the entire month of November. At this point, he’s played 45% of the snaps needed to make him a full CFA replacement.
Even if Reed plays the rest of the season at the amount of snaps he’s playing right now, he’ll still finish at around 45%. If the Lions make the playoffs, those snaps do not count. So at this point, it’s looking like the Lions have this pick in the bag.
Please note that nothing is set in stone at this time, and we won’t have a definitive answer for a few months, but it’s looking good right now.
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