The Washington Redskins were awarded a league-high four compensatory picks Friday afternoon.
Per the NFL Collective Bargaining agreement, teams are awarded draft picks if they lose more and/or better free agents than they acquire during a year’s signing period.
The Redskins were prime candidates to be reimbursed, as they watched free agents Kirk Cousins, Ryan Grant, Trent Murphy and Niles Paul walk out their door last off-season.
However, this type of reimbursement proved to be generous.
According to Redskins.com, the Redskins have added four additional picks to this year’s draft board.
#Redskins awarded four compensatory picks and now have 9 total picks in this year's NFL Draft.
🔗: https://t.co/79xstmbkOb pic.twitter.com/ujrnY1OqFb
— Washington Redskins (@Redskins) February 22, 2019
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Compensatory picks are based off of a complex formula, and are dispersed only between rounds three through seven. The maximum amount of picks any team can receive is four, which the Redskins acquired this year.
The Redskins now have a total of nine draft selections in 2019. These additional picks help ease the loss of a fourth-rounder that was traded to the Green Bay Packers in the Ha Ha Clinton-Dix trade. A sixth-round pick was also surrendered to the NFL during the supplemental draft and the corresponding move to select Adonis Alexander.
In all, the Redskins acquired an additional third round pick (selection number 96) and picks in the fifth (173), sixth (206), and seventh round (253).
What’s important to note is that a new provision was approved in 2017, allowing teams to trade compensatory picks as draft capital. Hence, the Redskins now have more tools to work with in the upcoming draft.
Will this make the Redskins more active on draft night? We’ll see.
