Packers receive three compensatory picks in 2021 NFL Draft

Few NFL teams play the compensatory draft pick game the way the Green Bay Packers do. In fact, since the advent of the compensatory pick system in 1995, only three teams have received more selections than the Packers. Under Ron Wolf, Mike Sherman, Ted Thompson, and Brian Gutekunst, the Packers have accrued 42 picks in total prior to the 2021 NFL Draft, though the team did not receive any in the last two drafts.

2021 is different from the last two cycles, as the Packers are getting back to their normal ways and loading up on comp picks. The NFL announced the picks awarded across the league on Wednesday afternoon, and the Packers have received three additional selections in the 2021 NFL Draft — one each in rounds four, five, and six:

• Round 4, pick #37 (#142 overall)
• Round 5, pick #33 (#177 overall)
• Round 6, pick #36 (#219 overall)

Picks are awarded based on the net gain or loss of unrestricted free agents from the previous year, with the value of the picks and free agents being primarily based on the value of the contracts they receive. The Packers’ extra picks this year correspond to the losses of linebacker Blake Martinez, offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga, and outside linebacker Kyler Fackrell in the 2020 free agency cycle.

Martinez corresponds to the fourth-round draft pick, thanks to a contract worth $10.25 million per year. Bulaga would normally have been worth a fourth-rounder as well, due to his $10 million per year compensation, but a stipulation in the CBA dictates that players with ten years of experience or more (other than quarterbacks) cannot be worth more than a fifth-round selection. Therefore, the pick for Bulaga is a fifth-rounder, though it is the first compensatory pick in that round due to his high contract value. The Fackrell deal was worth $4.6 million per year, slotting his comp pick in at a sixth-round level.

The Packers also lost linebacker B.J. Goodson to the Browns, but they signed wide receiver Devin Funchess last offseason to offset that loss, so they will not have a fourth additional pick.

Note: the NFL initially made an error on the third-round supplemental picks. The overall pick slots have been updated following the league’s correction.