The NFL announced its annual compensatory picks for the 2023 NFL Draft. These picks are awarded to teams based on net free agent gains and losses the previous offseason.
Just recently, the NFL also decided to award teams two third-round picks under its minority hiring program. If an assistant coach or front office individual is promoted to head coach or general manager with another team, it acquires two third-round selections under this format.
It’s in this that the San Francisco 49ers lead the charge with a whopping seven compensatory picks for the 2023 NFL Draft. The third-round picks San Francisco gained comes via the departures of Robert Saleh (New York Jets head coach), Mike McDaniel (Miami Dolphins head coach) and Ran Carthon (new Tennessee Titans general manager).
Below, we provide a breakdown of what teams were awarded under the NFL compensatory pick formula.
As noted above, San Francisco leads the charge with seven compensatory picks. Others with additional picks in the third round include the Arizona Cardinals, Washington Commanders, Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs.
The interesting dynamic here is that teams are now able to trade these selections. For a squad like the 49ers, this could loom large. They don’t have a pick in each of the first two rounds after trades for the likes of Trey Lance and Christian McCaffrey over the past couple years.
With seven additional compensatory picks, the San Francisco 49ers now have flexibility to move up and down the board or trade for a veteran player.