Cincinnati Bengals receive justice and a higher compensatory pick following correction from the NFL

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By John Sheeran | Last updated 3/12/24

The NFL did in fact initially screw the Cincinnati Bengals.

After bestowing them two sixth-round picks in this year's NFL Draft, the NFL has announced an update and has awarded the Bengals a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick. The third-rounder is the 97th overall pick.

The NFL just announced an update to its compensatory picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, with the most notable change that the Bengals have now been awarded an extra 3rd round pick (97th overall) instead of one of the two 6th round picks it had been previously awarded.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 11, 2024

Why the Bengals deserved a third-round compensatory pick

Last offseason, the Bengals watched Jessie Bates III leave in free agency for a four-year, $64.020 million deal, an average annual value of just over $16 million. The Bengals followed that by signing Orlando Brown Jr. for nearly the same exact AAV, but slightly larger.

Because Bates played a higher percentage of snaps and was a Pro Bowl selection, he ended up higher in the compensatory pick formula compared to Brown, according to compensatory pick expert Nick Korte of Over The Cap.

Korte believed that Bates should've been considered above third-round cutoff, which would give the Bengals a third-round comp pick.

In order to make this work, the 3rd/4th round cutoff would have to been in a verry narrow range between the contracts of Javon Hargrave (valued by the NFLMC as a 3rd) & Jessie Bates (valued as a 4th), at the 62nd ranked player.

This makes no sense. pic.twitter.com/qpS9X3dUz2
— Nick Korte (@nickkorte) March 8, 2024

Korte believed the NFL erred in setting the cutoff, which initially cost the Bengals a top-100 selection in this year's NFL Draft. This correction confirms Korte's analysis, and the Bengals now have four picks inside the first three rounds.