March 18, 2018
Earlier this week, we took a look at how many compensatory picks the Philadelphia Eagles could potentially earn in the 2019 NFL Draft because of players lost in free agency.
As we noted then, if the Eagles lose more free agents than they gain this offseason, which is something that hasn't happened in a half decade, then they will likely be awarded compensatory picks in the 2019 NFL Draft.
If you'd like a more thorough explanation of the mechanics of compensatory picks, please go here, but the basics are that each player signed in free agency cancels out a player lost, and the round of the pick awarded is primarily determined by the annual value of the contract signed.
So far, the Eagles have lost five players in free agency – TE Trey Burton, DT Beau Allen, CB Patrick Robinson, RB LeGarrette Blount, and K Caleb Sturgis.
They have signed two players in free agency – DT Haloti Ngata and LB Corey Nelson.
According to OverTheCap.com, Ngata would cancel out the loss of Blount, and Nelson would cancel out the loss of Sturgis. To note, veteran minimum contracts do not count toward the compensatory pick formula. While the money details on Sturgis' deal are not yet known, it is a two-year deal, and Sturgis' agent would have to be a complete moron to sign a two-year veteran minimum deal (as opposed to just a one-year deal), so we'll just assume he earned enough to count toward the compensatory pick formula.
A look at the updated comp pick cancellation process, in chart form:
| Player lost | Player gained |
| Trey Burton ($8 million APY): 4th round value | |
| Beau Allen ($5 million APY): 6th round value | |
| Patrick Robinson ($5 million APY) 6th round value | |
In other words, if the Eagles don't sign any more free agents (that haven't been released by their former team) to deals exceeding the veteran minimum, they will almost certainly gain three compensatory picks in the 2019 NFL Draft. If we were to project those picks to the Eagles, here is what their 2019 draft picks would look like:
| Round | How acquired |
| 1 | Eagles' own pick |
| 2 | Eagles' own pick |
| 3 | Eagles' own pick |
| 4 | Eagles' own pick |
| 4 | Compensatory pick (Trey Burton) |
| 5 | Eagles' own pick |
| 6 | Eagles' own pick |
| 6 | Compensatory pick (Beau Allen) |
| 6 | Compensatory pick (Patrick Robinson) |
| 7 | Eagles' own pick |
| 7 (conditional) | (Acquired from Broncos for Allen Barbre - Exact conditions not yet known) |
As you can see, the Eagles would have 11 picks in the 2019 NFL Draft. The Eagles' remaining free agents are as follows:
There's a decent chance that either Darren Sproles or Corey Graham could sign for an above veteran minimum deal, which would bring the Eagles' comp pick total to 4 (the maximum number allowed) and their overall draft pick total to 12.
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