How the Saints could screw the Chiefs out of a compensatory pick

The goal of the National Football League’s compensatory pick system is to help a team restock the shelves over time in the instance they lose an impact free agent or two and fail to sign the same. Star safety Tyrann Mathieu is undoubtedly an impactful free agent, but the Kansas City Chiefs might not get that comp pick if the New Orleans Saints time it right—or wrong, depending on the point of view.

It’s already a shock that Mathieu is still available in free agency after turning in three strong seasons for the Chiefs that featured deep playoff runs and two All-Pro mentions (not to mention two Pro Bowls as well). However, once Mathieu was on the open market for this long, it only made sense for interested teams to wait until after the NFL Draft was over to see how they might fill needs during those seven rounds.

Coming out the other side of draft weekend, the Saints were reportedly quick to reconnect with Mathieu and were the favorites to sign him away from the Chiefs. That said, the Chiefs had already moved on by taking two more safeties in the draft after signing two in free agency. But about that compensatory pick…

The New Orleans Saints are going to sign Tyrann Mathieu and the timing could screw the Kansas City Chiefs out of a compensatory pick.

For any team to be eligible for a compensatory pick, the NFL presented a window from the opening of free agency in March to the Monday following the NFL Draft (at 3:00 p.m. C.T.). Now check out the following report from Ian Rapoport.

Rapoport notes the deal between Mathieu and the Saints is basically a done deal, yet it “should be finalized in the coming days.” In other words, “Kansas City can likely wave goodbye to any notion of adding another compensatory pick.”

While no one is likely thinking of the Chiefs in the midst of serious negotiations, it also doesn’t hurt for a team to want to avoid helping another franchise by stalling just a bit. And maybe there’s something personal here, too, on the part of Mathieu. If so, can anyone blame him?

As for the Chiefs, the team already has an extra third-round pick due to the Ryan Poles hiring in Chicago as well as additional fourth and sixth-round picks from the Tyreek Hill trade to the Miami Dolphins. A potential compensatory pick could be had in the seventh, depending on the NFL’s final ruling, for the Jarran Reed signing in Green Bay. However, a Mathieu signing would undoubtedly have been much higher—perhaps even in the third or, more likely, the fourth round.

Perhaps a deal will get done in time, but it looks at this point like the Chiefs have lost Mathieu (no surprise) without any compensation (a bigger surprise).