Compensatory Picks Provide Trade Fodder

With three sixth-round picks now it would seem a good tool for the Bears to try and move up for an extra fifth-round selection.

The NFL on Wednesday offically gave the Bears the 221st and 228th overall picks in Round 6 as compensation for lost free agents.

As a result, don't be surprised if Pace packages some sixth-rounders to move up into Round 5. He has a history of doing this. Last year the Bears did it.

The compensatory picks had been anticipated, although the exact placement hadn't been certain.

Last year the Bears lost Nick Williams, Chase Daniel and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in free agency and this helped add up to the two sixth-round picks according to a tightly protected secret NFL formula for determining the extra picks.

The Bears would have likely had another one in the fifth round for losing linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski in free agency, but they signed free agent edge rusher Robert Quinn and offset that loss.

The league merely says the compensation level is based on free agents lost but also on the "weighted combination of players' yearly compensation, playing time and postseason honors."

A total of 37 compensatory picks are awarded throughout Rounds 3-7. Teams are eligible if they had a net loss of free agents the previous year. There is a limit of four compensation picks awarded to any team. There were 11 awarded after the third round this year.

The Dallas Cowboys have the most compensatory picks with four, one each in rounds three through six. New England has the highest pick at No. 96 overall.

The Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers had three each.

The Bears pick 20th in Round 1, 52nd in Round two, 83rd in Round 3, 165th in Round 5, 204th, 221st and 228th in Round 6 and 232nd in Round 7.

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