For the third draft in a row, the Detroit Lions will not have any of the extra compensatory picks.
Comp picks are awarded to teams who lose big-ticket free agents or wind up being negative in the balance between free agent gains and losses. Detroit didn’t lose a lot in free agency; Eric Ebron doesn’t count because he was cut. Meanwhile, the team signed guys like Devon Kennard, Christian Jones, Levine Toilolo and Luke Willson to offset losing veterans Darren Fells, Haloti Ngata and Tahir Whitehead.
The lack of compensatory picks didn’t seem to bother Lions GM Bob Quinn last spring.
“It’s one of those things where, do you talk about it when you get into the second and third week of free agency?” Quinn said. “It comes up in the conversations, but it’s not like, ‘Hey, if I don’t sign this guy, I’m going to get a comp pick, but you know what, I really want this guy, we need him this year.’ So it’s a conversation piece, but it’s not a driver of decisions.”
Detroit could be in line to earn one next offseason if another team signs Ezekiel Ansah to a big contract, but that would also require the Lions not spending the equivalent in free agency to replace him.
Starting center Graham Glasgow is the only compensatory selection Quinn has made in his reign as Lions GM. Glasgow was taken with the third-round pick awarded for losing Ndamukong Suh to Miami in the 2015 offseason
