CINCINNATI — Perhaps the Cincinnati Bengals should invite OverTheCap.com’s Nick Korte to their 2024 NFL Draft party.
Korte, who has earned a reputation as an expert on the NFL’s compensatory pick formula, posted a thread on X on Friday night indicating the Bengals appeared to have been shorted a premium pick.
Today, the NFL admitted the error and upgraded one of the Bengals’ two sixth-round picks to a third-rounder.
Cincinnati Bengals Get Comp Pick Upgrade After NFL Error
The error by the NFL Management Council stemmed from a valuation of former Cincinnati safety Jessie Bates’ contract with the Atlanta Falcons. The league initially put a fourth-round valuation on it, resulting in it being canceled out by the Orlando Brown Jr. signing.
Korte argued Bates should have earned the Bengals third-round consideration, and that’s what happened.
The Bengals went from having two extra picks in the sixth round — Nos. 208 and 214 — to having one in the third round, No. 97, and one in the sixth (214).
With the #Bengals getting No. 97 as a comp pick, a look at the No. 97 picks since 2000 (two were by the Bengals). pic.twitter.com/fVdxUmQgI6
— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) March 11, 2024
The error and the correction are not unprecedented for the NFL.
In 2015, the league had what it called a “database error.” And as recently as 2021, it awarded a 33rd comp pick after making an error that shorted the New England Patriots a selection.
As things currently stand, the Bengals will have one pick in Rounds 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 and two picks in Rounds 3 and 6.
Because Cincinnati has been so active in free agency lately, this is the first time the team has received a compensatory pick since 2021, when the league awarded the Bengals a fourth-rounder that they used to select D’Ante Smith with No. 139.
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And it’s the first time since 2019 that Cincinnati has received multiple comp picks.
This year’s picks bring the total to 41 that the Bengals have received since the NFL implemented the compensatory program in 1994.
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