Dallas Cowboys lead 32 compensatory draft picks with 4

Updated Mar. 10, 2021 5:53 p.m. ET

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys have been awarded the maximum four compensatory picks in April's NFL draft, while the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers will get three apiece.

The NFL announced Wednesday that there will be 32 such picks this year. Carolina, Chicago, Kansas City, the Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota, New England, New Orleans and Philadelphia get two apiece. Baltimore, the Los Angeles Chargers, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Tampa Bay and Tennessee will have one each.

Compensatory selections are awarded to a team losing more or better compensatory free agents than it acquires in the previous year. Those spots are positioned from the third through sixth rounds of the draft based on the value of the compensatory free agents lost. That value is determined by a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors and was developed by the NFL's management council. Not every free agent lost or signed by a club is covered by the formula.

But this year, the league also is giving four special compensatory selections to four teams — the 49ers (two), Rams, Ravens, and Saints — for promoting equal employment opportunities and an inclusive workforce. That initiative provides that the previous team of a minority employee who has been hired by another club as its head coach or general manager will receive compensation in the third round of each of the next two drafts, or in each of the next three drafts if two minority employees are hired for these positions by another club or clubs.

Those selections are made at the end of the third round. San Francisco's is for the Jets hiring Robert Saleh as head coach. The Rams is for Lions general manager Brad Holmes. Baltimore's is for David Culley, now the coach in Houston, and New Orleans got one for Terry Fontenot joining Atlanta as general manager.

New England has the highest compensatory spot at 96th overall, in great part for seeing Tom Brady land in Tampa Bay — and winning the Super Bowl. Dallas' picks will be 99th, 139th, 179th and 227th.

The Cowboys lost Randall Cobb, Maliek Collins, Jeff Heath, Byron Jones, Robert Quinn, Xavier Su’a-Filo and Jason Witten in free agency in 2020. They gained Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Gerald McCoy and Greg Zuerlein.

___

More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL