Editing NFL draft (section)

===Compensatory picks===
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In addition to the 32 selections in each of the seven rounds, a total of 32 compensatory selections are awarded to teams based on the players they lost and gained in free agency. The league defines a class of unrestricted free agents as "compensatory free agents" (CFA). Teams that have lost more compensatory free agents than they signed in the previous year receive between one and four selections somewhere in the third through seventh rounds, but always at the end of each round. Teams that gain and lose equal numbers of players but lose higher-valued players can also be awarded a single seventh-round pick. Compensatory selections are awarded each year at the NFL annual meeting which is held at the end of March; typically, about three or four weeks before the draft. Compensatory selections can be traded; this began with the [[2017 NFL draft]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/14274468/nfl-owners-ok-compensatory-pick-trading-2017|title=Owners OK trading of compensatory picks, shorten legal tampering window|work=ESPN.com|date=December 2, 2015|access-date=January 9, 2015}}</ref>

The placement of selections is determined by a proprietary formula based on the player's average annual salary, playing time, and postseason honors with his new team, with salary being the primary factor. So, for example, a team that lost a linebacker who signed for $2.5 million per year in free agency might get a sixth-round compensatory pick, while a team that lost a wide receiver who signed for $5 million per year might receive a fourth-round pick. The formula used prior to the 2020 free agency season was never revealed by the NFL, though observers from outside the NFL were able to [[reverse engineer]] it to some degree of certainty.<ref name="OTCBasics">{{cite web| url=http://overthecap.com/the-basics-and-methodology-of-projecting-the-nfls-compensatory-draft-picks/ |title=The Basics and Methodology of Projecting the NFL's Compensatory Draft Picks|work=Over the Cap|access-date=April 19, 2016}}</ref> The [[NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement|2020 CBA]] explicitly provided the details of a new formula, still based primarily on salary.<ref name="OTCBasics"/>

On two occasions, 33 compensatory selections have been awarded instead of 32:

* In [[2016 NFL draft|2016]], the additional pick was awarded (under an agreement between the NFL Management Council and the [[NFLPA]]) to the [[Buffalo Bills]] for losing [[Da'Norris Searcy]] to free agency and signing [[Charles Clay (American football)|Charles Clay]] as a transition tagged player from the [[Miami Dolphins]], who had not qualified as a CFA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://overthecap.com/evaluating-otcs-2016-compensatory-draft-picks-projection/|title=Evaluating OTC's 2016 Compensatory Draft Picks Projection|work=Over the Cap |access-date=April 19, 2016|date=March 11, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://overthecap.com/comment-compensatory-picks-transition-tag/|title=A Comment On Compensatory Picks And The Transition Tag|work=Over the Cap|access-date=April 28, 2016|date=March 10, 2016}}</ref>
* In [[2021 NFL draft|2021]], the NFL announced compensatory selections — the first under a new formula — on March 10. On March 19, it published a revised list after "a correction by the Management Council to the calculation of average yearly compensation."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-19|title=NFL awards Patriots additional 2021 NFL Draft pick|url=https://www.masslive.com/patriots/2021/03/nfl-awards-new-england-patriots-mysterious-new-fifth-round-comp-pick.html|access-date=2021-03-20|website=masslive|language=en}}</ref> The revised calculation meant that [[Damiere Byrd]] did not qualify as a CFA, giving the [[New England Patriots]] an additional fifth-round compensatory pick for [[Jamie Collins (American football)|Jamie Collins]]. Rather than remove the last compensatory pick (a sixth-round pick for the [[Chicago Bears]]), a 33rd pick was awarded.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Overthecap.com|title=The NFL Management Council Makes Corrections To The 2021 Compensatory Picks|url=https://overthecap.com/the-nfl-management-council-makes-corrections-to-the-2021-compensatory-picks/|access-date=2021-03-20|website=Over the Cap|date=March 20, 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref>

If fewer than 32 compensatory selections are awarded, the remainder are awarded after the final Round 7 compensatory selections in the order in which teams would pick in a hypothetical eighth round of the draft; these are known as "supplemental compensatory selections".