KC Chiefs projected to earn two compensatory picks in 2023 NFL Draft

The Kansas City Chiefs just wrapped a draft in which they entered with 12 selections and came away with 10, their biggest overall rookie class in several years. In 2023, they might end up matching it (or coming close) to give them a brilliant foundation for the next stage of the organization’s success.

According to Lance Zierlein of the NFL’s official site, the Chiefs are projected to earn an additional two compensatory picks in the 2023 NFL Draft given the way that free agency has fallen throughout the compensatory portion this spring.

Every spring, the NFL rewards franchises with compensatory picks in the following offseason’s first-year player draft if they lose more talent than they sign away. Contract sizes are a big determinant here along with playing time, but there’s a bit of a secret sauce when it comes to the exact algorithm.

The Kansas City Chiefs are projected to add two compensatory picks to their total in the 2023 NFL Draft.

For the Chiefs this year, they lost cornerback Charvarius Ward, wide receivers Byron Pringle and Demarcus Robinson, center Austin Blythe, and defensive tackle Jarran Reed. When it comes to additions, the Chiefs added JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the receiving corps after landing a major prize in safety Justin Reid to replace Tyrann Mathieu. By the way, the New Orleans Saints signed Mathieu after the deadline.

Speaking of the deadline, the NFL sets a day and time every year for free agent signings to no longer count toward this compensatory formula and it falls on the Monday after the NFL Draft at 4:00 p.m. The Saints and Mathieu agreed to a deal shortly after that deadline this year.

According to Zierlein, the Chiefs earned themselves a seventh-round pick for the imbalance in free-agent value exchanged this offseason. However, the much more valuable compensatory pick comes in the third round as the last bit of compensation for losing former player personnel exec Ryan Poles to the Chicago Bears as their new general manager.

Overall, the Chiefs already entered the draft with their original seven picks given to every team—one in each round—of the 2023 edition. However, the trade of Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins also gave them additional fourth and sixth-round choices in ’23 as well, vaulting them to 9 overall picks. With third and seventh-round picks on the way, that means the Chiefs will have 11 total choices, including two in each of the third, fourth, sixth, and seventh rounds.