The 2024 NFL Draft is almost here, and the lives of all players drafted are about to change. For NFL teams, their franchises might change too. With three days and seven rounds of picks to be made, how many players are drafted each year?
How Many Players Are Selected in the NFL Draft?
Every year, at least 224 players are selected in the NFL Draft. The reason for that is that 32 teams receive one pick in all seven rounds. Additionally, the NFL awards compensatory picks every year, making it upwards of 250-260 picks. However, the exact number can fluctuate each year, depending on how many compensatory picks are given out.
Additionally, teams can forfeit selections if found guilty of violating rules by the NFL.
There will be 257 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. Here’s how many draft picks have been made in the last five seasons:
- 2023: 259
- 2022: 262
- 2021: 259
- 2020: 255
- 2019: 254
What Are Compensatory Picks?
Compensatory picks are the selections added to the end of Rounds 3-7. They are awarded to ensure balance among teams and given to teams who underwent personnel changes, including in the front office and free-agency losses.
Losing players in free agency can create a roster imbalance, with compensatory picks filling the void.
How Do Compensatory Picks Work?
Compensatory picks are awarded to teams based on the players they lost and gained in free agency. The NFL’s free agency compensatory pick system awards up to 32 selections. Teams that have lost more compensatory free agents than they signed in the previous year receive between one and four selections.
The placement of selections is determined by a formula based on the player’s average annual salary, playing time, and postseason honors with their new team, with salary being the primary factor.
KEEP READING: Who Has the Most Draft Picks in 2024?
The value of all compensatory free agents gained or lost by a team is totaled, and then the team is awarded picks of equal value to the net loss of those free agents, with a maximum of four. While the picks are tradable now, they weren’t until 2017.
Free agency isn’t the only way to earn a compensatory pick, though. If a team has a person of color in their front office hired by an outside organization as either a head coach or general manager, they’ll also get one in the third round. An example of this is when the San Francisco 49ers lost Robert Saleh to the New York Jets in 2021.
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