As expected, the Seahawks received the maximum four compensatory picks for the 2015 Draft due to free agents lost in 2014.
The picks were officially announced by the NFL tonight at the league meetings in Phoenix.
Seattle’s added picks are in the fourth round (No. 134 overall), fifth (170) and two in the sixth (209, 214).
That gives Seattle 11 picks overall.
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Seattle does not have a first-round pick thanks to the Jimmy Graham trade, and does not have its own sixth round pick thanks to the Marcus Burley trade.
However, it does have its own picks in the second, third, fourth, fifth and seventh rounds, and also has New Orleans’ fourth round pick as part of the Graham trade and the New York Jets’ sixth-round pick as part of the Percy Harvin trade.
Seattle received picks for the losses of unrestricted free agents Golden Tate, Brandon Browner, Clinton McDonald and Breno Giacomini. Seattle did not sign any UFAs in 2014 who warranted compensation back.
The Broncos and Chiefs also got the maximum number of four comp picks back.
As the NFL’s press release states:
Under the rules for compensatory draft selections, a team losing more or better compensatory free agents than it acquires in the previous year is eligible to receive compensatory draft picks.
The number of picks a team receives equals the net loss of compensatory free agents up to a maximum of four. The 32 compensatory choices announced today will supplement the 224 choices in the seven rounds of the 2015 NFL Draft held on April 30-May 2 in Chicago.Â
This year, the compensatory picks will be positioned within the third through seventh rounds based on the value of the compensatory free agents lost.
Compensatory free agents are determined by a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors. The formula was developed by the NFL Management Council. Not every free agent lost or signed by a club is covered by this formula.Â
The NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement limits the number of compensatory picks to the number of clubs then in the league (32). This year, three clubs – Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Green Bay – qualified for compensatory picks under the net loss formula but will not receive those picks because they ranked 33rd, 34th and 35th, respectively, among all compensatory picks. All three clubs will receive picks for other compensatory free agents lost who ranked within the top 32 compensatory picks.