As NFL free agency is underway, one factor that teams must consider is the next year’s compensatory picks. Whatever decisions the teams make this year will affect how many picks they get next year.
On Tuesday, the NFL announced the compensatory picks for the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Dolphins, Ravens, 49ers and Cowboys all received four comp picks to lead the league, while over half the league came away with no comp picks.
Here’s a breakdown of all the compensatory picks for the 2025 NFL draft.
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NFL compensatory picks 2025
| Round | Pick | Team |
| 3 | 97 | Vikings |
| 3 | 98 | Dolphins |
| 3 | 99 | Giants |
| 3 | 100 | 49ers |
| 3 | 101 | Rams |
| 3 | 102 | Lions |
| 4 | 135 | Dolphins |
| 4 | 136 | Ravens |
| 4 | 137 | Seahawks |
| 4 | 138 | 49ers |
| 5 | 169 | Bills |
| 5 | 170 | Cowboys |
| 5 | 171 | Cowboys |
| 5 | 172 | Seahawks |
| 5 | 173 | Bills |
| 5 | 174 | Cowboys |
| 5 | 175 | Seahawks |
| 5 | 176 | Ravens |
| 6 | 209 | Chargers |
| 6 | 210 | Ravens |
| 6 | 211 | Cowboys |
| 6 | 212 | Ravens |
| 6 | 213 | Raiders |
| 6 | 214 | Chargers |
| 6 | 215 | Raiders |
| 6 | 216 | Browns |
| 7 | 249 | 49ers |
| 7 | 250 | Packers |
| 7 | 251 | Chiefs |
| 7 | 252 | 49ers |
| 7 | 253 | Dolphins |
| 7 | 254 | Browns |
| 7 | 255 | Chargers |
| 7 | 256 | Dolphins |
| 7 | 257 | Chiefs |
What is a compensatory pick?
The NFL awards compensatory draft picks — essentially, extra draft picks — mainly based on what teams gain and lose in free agency. The league determines these comp picks in a few different ways.
First, the league uses a formula to rewards teams who lose free agents on lucrative contracts in the previous offseason. The formula is determined based on the player’s contract, playing time and honors from the season.
Additionally, in order for teams to gain comp picks, they must lose more players than sign through the first few months of free agency. However, that only applies to players who’s contracts have expired, as players that were released do not count towards the comp pick formula.
The best comp picks belong to the teams who lost players of most significance last year. In this case, the Vikings earned the top comp pick after losing Kirk Cousins, while the Dolphins lost Robert Hunt and the Giants lost Xavier McKinney in free agency last year.
The other way for teams to earn comp picks is if they have a minority coach or executive hired by another team. In 2021, the NFL instituted a new piece of the Rooney Rule, giving teams compensatory picks if they have a minority coach leave to become a head coach, or a minority executive leave to be a general manager.
In this year’s case, the 49ers earned their third-round pick as continued compensation for DeMeco Ryans taking the Texans job in 2023, the Rams got their pick after Raheem Morris took the Falcons job in 2024, and the Lions earned their’s when Aaron Glenn was hired by the Jets in January.
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