Dallas Cowboys officially receive two compensatory picks ahead of 2024 NFL Draft

The league announced the official compensatory picks of the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday. 

Every year, the league awards additional draft choices for those teams that suffered a "net loss of compensatory free agents." In other words, if a team loses more key free agents than it gains in any given offseason, it's compensated through these compensatory picks.

How many of those they get is determined by a formula that factors in salary, playing time, and postseason honors. The exact formula isn't officially disclosed, however. 

This year, the Cowboys received two comp picks ahead of free agency:

• 5th round, No. 173 overall
• 6th round, No. 216 overall

The picks received are the result of losing iOL Connor McGovern and TE Dalton Schultz respectively during the 2023 offseason. In this particular year, getting comp picks was key as the Cowboys traded away multiple Day 3 picks last year, including giving up their fourth rounder for QB Trey Lance. 

In January, Over the Cap projected former Cowboys WR Noah Brown to qualify as a compensatory free agent that could award Dallas a seventh-rounder but league rules indicate only 32 comp picks can be awarded each year, and those that the formula spits out after the first 32 are not awarded.

With this news, we now know the Cowboys' official list of draft picks ahead of April.