Compensation Picks: How The Cleveland Browns Can Get Some

There is much confusion about how comp picks work in the NFL so I will try and explain the basic principles and how the Cleveland Browns might get some in the future. The NFL Comp Pick guru is Nick Korte who writes for Over The Cap, he goes into more detail on the complete formula here with the team by team page here.

He unfortunately has a habit of helping the Bengals due to their dysfunctional front office. He once identified the NFL had got its model wrong and not given the Bengals a 3rd round comp pick, then this week pointed out the Arnold Ebiketie trade would lose them their 3rd round comp pick for Trey Hendrickson which resulted in the trade being cancelled.

How They Work

The NFL awards compensation picks for teams that lose more qualifying players than they sign in free agency. This is looking purely at volume, if you lose 5 elite players to free agency and sign 4 middle-tier free agents back then you could only qualify for one compensation pick. While the talent level of the players impacts the round and if they qualify at all, it is purely based on volume to begin. This is important to remember as picks aren't guaranteed, to really play the system you need to avoid signing as many qualifying free agents as possible.

Players that are cut by a team don't qualify, so some teams will focus on trying to pick up these players if they have had several valuable player leave, so they don't cancel out their incoming comp picks. The threshold for the most a player has to get to qualify is around $4m a year but other factors come into play like snaps played, so cheap free agents don't impact the formula. But if you lose a $30m a year player and sign one $5m a year player, they cancel out.

The NFL hands out 32 compensatory picks per year, so once those that are given to teams for coaches and front office staff, however many are left sets how high the bar is to qualify. Picks are given out a year after players hit the market, so for free agents after this season, these will be for the 2028 NFL Draft. There is also a maximum of four that can be awarded per team.

Additional Comp Picks

The Browns got extra third-round picks in 2022 & 2023 from the league for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah becoming a General Manager for the Vikings. If Glenn Cook or Catherine Raîche becomes GMs this offseason then they would get another pair of third-rounders across the 2027 & 2028 NFL Draft. If both were to get hired it would be one pick in 2027, 2028 & 2029 due to the way the rules are written. Hopefully one gets a job this offseason and then one the following because that is then one extra in 2027, two in 2028, and one in 2029.

These are to reward teams for developing minority and female coaches and front office executives. You have to spend at least two years with the team before being hired into a General Manager or Head Coach role elsewhere.

2026 Offseason

During the offseason that has just passed, the Browns lost two qualifying player in Bush and Thomas. They then added two in Williams and Johnson.