Tuesday was a big day for the NFL’s remaining free agents. Beginning at 4 p.m. ET, teams could sign players without it affecting their compensatory draft pick balance.
The compensatory pick process is a months-long snapshot of a team’s roster changes over the early stage of free agency. Teams that lose more than they gain — most often the New England Patriots — stand to recoup some of that value in the following year’s draft. When the compensatory window closes, it means teams who lost big name free agents could hit the open market without tilting the formula that will award them bonus third- or fourth-round draft selections next spring.
We’ve already seen it have an impact. Tyrann Mathieu lingered in free agency, then signed a three-year, $33 million deal with the New Orleans Saints on the day the deadline passed. Twenty-two franchises have an estimated $10 million or more left in salary cap space left to spend in 2022, per Over the Cap. Expect a slight uptick in action now that the months of draft prep are over and compensatory picks are locked in.
Which difference makers are still out there? Fortunately for needy teams, there are a handful of free agents capable of stepping into a starting role this fall.
