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The offseason is in full swing, with the NFL Combine in the rear view mirror and the frenzy of free agency set for next week. Complicating things for all parties has been the proposed CBA which has been sent to the NFLPA for the players to vote. The proposed CBA is extremely important, as it will allow teams to have a better understanding of their salary cap space and obligations in future seasons for the players who are set to cash in.
In addition, the proposed CBA could have an impact on the upcoming draft, specifically the awarding of comp picks to teams based on free agent gains and losses in 2019. The comp picks for the 2020 draft have yet to be announced by the league, and it’s possible that this is a result of the fact that the proposed CBA contains a revised formula for the calculation of comp pick awards.
Digging into the details, if the new CBA is approved and the league opts to use the comp pick formula that is in the proposed CBA, there could be nine comp picks which could see their allocation change. Nick Korte, the comp pick expert at OverTheCap.com, has calculated what the comp picks awarded in the upcoming draft would look like if the league does opt to use the revised formula laid out in the proposed CBA.
Just for fun, here's what the 2020 compensatory picks would look like if the new rules in the proposed CBA would be applied. (They should not be.)
— Nick Korte (@nickkorte) March 5, 2020
Only 23 regular comp picks would be awarded. The remaining 9 go in the order of the hypothetical 8th round. pic.twitter.com/R9faKNXogT
It’s easy to see that the Seattle Seahawks are still projected to receive the third round pick for the loss of Earl Thomas to the Baltimore Ravens, as well as the fourth founder for the departure of Justin Coleman to the Detroit Lions. However, that big row of “supp. compensatory” at the bottom includes a comp pick which would be projected to Seattle under the formula the league has used in the past.
The picks that would be removed:
— Nick Korte (@nickkorte) March 5, 2020
--MIA's 4th for losing Ju'Wuan James
--CHI's 4th for losing Adrian Amos
--SEA's 6th for losing Shamar Stephen
--7th rounders to HOU x 2, MIA, DEN x 2, MIN x 2, & NYG
WAS & DAL would also pick up 7ths for losing Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix & Geoff Swaim
In short, if the members of the NFLPA vote in favor of the CBA, it’s possible that Seattle could see a comp pick it had been projected to receive go to another team. Whether this turns out to be the case remains to be seen. However, given that the league has yet to announce the comp picks for the upcoming draft, an announcement that usually happens in February, the lack of an announcement could be a sign that the league is planning on using the revised formula if the proposed CBA is approved by the union.
That said, the proposed CBA specifically spells out that as it pertains to Appendix V, the section in which the comp pick formula is laid out, “with the 2020 free agency period being the first such “prior free agency signing period” under this appendix”. However, even with that clearly laid out, the union and the league could agree to use the new formula retroactively in regards to awarding the comp picks, so everything remains up in the air.
In short, it’s likely nothing will be known until Sunday at the earlier, once the votes on the proposed CBA have been tallied. From there things should fall into place, and the awarding of comp picks should simply be the league filling in the details once it is known the rules under which the league will be operating during its 2020 league year.