Chiefs awarded four compensatory picks for 2017 NFL Draft
The Chiefs will have no shortage of draft picks to play around with this year.
On Friday, the NFL announced the Chiefs will receive four compensatory picks — a third (104th overall), a fifth (182nd) and two sixths (218th and 220nd) — for the April 27-29 NFL Draft.
The haul means the Chiefs will have 10 picks in this year’s draft, with at least one in each round. The Chiefs surrendered their original sixth-round pick as a part of the NFL’s discipline in their tampering investigation surrounding the signing of receiver Jeremy Maclin in 2015.
With 10 picks, the Chiefs have extra selections to trade if they decide to move up in the draft order. Compensatory picks can be traded following a rule change passed by NFL owners in 2015 that goes into effect this year.
The league awarded 32 compensatory draft picks to 16 teams based on the result of last year’s free agency.
The Chiefs signed a 16-game starter in Mitchell Schwartz last offseason, but also lost four starters in guard Jeff Allen (Houston), safety Tyvon Branch (Arizona), tackle Donald Stephenson (Denver) and cornerback Sean Smith (Oakland), who started a combined 46 games with their respective teams.
Terez A. Paylor: 816-234-4489, @TerezPaylor. Download Red Zone Extra, The Star’s Chiefs app.
This story was originally published February 24, 2017 at 2:59 PM with the headline "Chiefs awarded four compensatory picks for 2017 NFL Draft."