Free agency is still a long ways away from over, but it’s worth noting that as things stand currently the Saints would possibly be in line for a compensatory draft pick. A complex review process that tallies all the NFL free agents gained and lost by each team would ultimately determine if and which round the Saints would earn that pick in. The NFL doles out 32 compensatory picks in the NFL draft each season, rewarding teams who lost more free agents than they signed in any free agency period. The “free agency period” technically ends on June 1st for the sake of this exercise, but of course teams are still able to fill out their roster with unsigned NFL free agents at any point after that date. They just don’t count as additions in the official “free agency period”.
As things stand the Saints have signed three unrestricted free agents from other teams this offseason in Jairus Byrd, Champ Bailey and Erik Lorig. They also signed Marcus Ball from the CFL. Any free agents the Saints have retained that were on their roster last season, like Zach Strief as an example, do not factor into this equation. The free agents they’ve lost to other teams thus far are: Charles Brown (Giants), Brian de la Puente (Bears), Malcolm Jenkins (Eagles), Jed Collins (Lions) and Tom Johnson (Vikings). That’s a total of five players, but it’s unlikely Johnson would figure into the equation either because the NFL weighs the value of the free agent lost (and gained). Brown, de la Puente, Collins and Jenkins were all starters, though, so you figure that even if the NFL doesn’t weigh Johnson as a significant loss the Saints currently have replaced 4 lost free agents with 3 gained ones. Will Smith, Lance Moore, Roman Harper, and Jabari Greer do not factor into this equation because they were all willingly released by the team while under contract. Ditto Darren Sproles who was traded, so he was not lost in free agency.
Currently the Saints still have Jonathan Vilma, Kenyon Coleman (who is retired), Jordan Pugh and Will Herring as other unrestricted free agents, though they didn’t play enough snaps to likely give the Saints room to sign a player of value. If one of these four players were to sign with another team prior to June 1st, though, the Saints could make a move and possibly not jeopardize their compensatory pick eligibility. Because this same rule applies to other teams, though, I doubt they would sign any of these four players prior to June 1st. In fact, it may be the reason the Cowboys rescinded the contract they had with Herring, banking on the fact that he’d likely still be available come June 1st. If the Saints currently signed an unrestricted free agent before June 1st as things stand, though, they would no longer be eligible for that pick. So they may wait before adding anymore veterans (unless of course a veteran was released by a team).
The compensatory pick is explained as such on Wikipedia (yes, I know, the most reliable resource known to man):
In addition to the 32 selections in each of the seven rounds, a total of 32 compensatory picks are awarded to teams that have lost more or better compensatory free agents than they signed in the previous year. Teams that gain and lose the same number of players but lose higher-valued players than they gain also can be awarded a pick, but only in the seventh round, after the other compensatory picks. Compensatory picks cannot be traded, and the placement of the picks is determined by a proprietary formula based on the player’s salary, playing time, and postseason honors with his new team, with salary being the primary factor. So, for example, a team that lost a linebacker who signed for $2.5 million per year in free agency might get a sixth-round compensatory pick, while a team that lost a wide receiver who signed for $5 million per year might receive a fourth-round pick.
All compensatory picks are awarded at the ends of Rounds 3 through 7.
If fewer than 32 such picks are awarded, the remaining picks are awarded in the order in which teams would pick in a hypothetical eighth round of the draft (These are known as “supplemental compensatory selections”).
Compensatory picks are awarded each year at the NFL annual meeting which is held at the end of March; typically, about three or four weeks before the draft.
The last compensatory pick the Saints had was in 2011 and it was used to select linebacker Nate Bussey (pictured) in the 7th round.
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