Chiefs awarded two compensatory picks, giving the team eight selections in NFL Draft
Barring a trade scenario, the Chiefs can plan to have eight total picks for the 2021 NFL Draft.
The Chiefs were awarded compensatory picks in the fourth round (145th overall) and fifth round (182nd overall), the NFL announced Wednesday afternoon.
The NFL incorporates a complex formula “based on salary, playing time and postseason honors” to determine compensatory free agents from the previous season. A team that loses more or better players categorized as compensatory free agents than it acquired the previous year is eligible to receive compensatory draft picks.
Of the players the Chiefs lost to free agency in 2020, cornerback Kendall Fuller and defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah played a role in the league’s equation for the Chiefs to gain the two additional picks.
Fuller signed a four-year deal with Washington, while Ogbah signed a two-year deal with the Miami Dolphins.
The cap-strapped Chiefs made few splashy moves during the free-agency period in 2020, mostly signing players to one-year deals off the open market, such as offensive lineman Mike Remmers and cornerback Antonio Hamilton.
Since the NFL started awarding compensatory picks in 1994, the Chiefs have received 27 such selections.
As of now, the Chiefs will enter the 2021 NFL Draft, which will take place April 29-May 1, with selections, including two in the fourth and fifth rounds, through the sixth round. The Chiefs do not have a seventh-round pick in 2021.
Click here to see the full list of teams awarded compensatory picks around the NFL.
