Since the National Football League started handning out compensatory draft picks in 1994, the Bears have only received 17 of them.
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For the order in the first round, the first tiebreaker for teams with the same record is strength of schedule (SOS); the easier the SOS, the earlier the selection.
The Dallas Cowboys received the most compensatory picks with for, in part because the Bucs signed Henry Melton and Bruce Carter. The other 28 clubs now have three selections. The NFL announced the compensatory picks for the 2016 NFL draft today.
Baltimore didn’t get the fourth (and maximum amount) of compensatory picks, but it’s still a nice haul. The Lions were awarded two of them – a third rounder (95 overall) and sixth rounder (210). Only players who leave the team after playing out their contracts are counted for compensatory pick calculations.
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While the net loss of free agents determines the number of compensatory picks a team is awarded, the quality of those free agents is what determines how high the picks are in the draft. The Cardinals benefitted by the big deal nose tackle Dan Williams signed with the Raiders and the amount he played in Oakland.
