NFL Owners Meetings: No Compensatory Picks For Vikings

The 2013 NFL Draft is now, officially, up to 254 selections, as the league announced the recipients of the 32 compensatory picks for this year's selection meeting.

As expected, the Minnesota Vikings did not get any compensatory picks for this year's draft, so they will stay with the 11 selections that they currently have. The Vikings were not the only NFC North team left out of the process, as the Chicago Bears did not receive any compensatory picks, either. The Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers each received a fourth-round compensatory pick, and the Lions also received a pick in the seventh round.

EDIT: The Packers' compensatory pick was a fifth-round choice, not a fourth rounder like I originally had. My apologies for the error.

Three teams were awarded third-round compensatory picks, the highest such pick that can be given. Those teams were the Houston Texans, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Tennessee Titans. And, as they were given the 254th selection in the draft, the Indianapolis Colts will draft "Mr. Irrelevant" for the second year in a row.

Usually the draft is 256 picks, but two teams in this year's draft are without a second round selection. Those two teams are the Cleveland Browns (because they burned their second-round pick selecting Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft) and the New Orleans Saints (because they're big cheaters).

Compensatory picks, according to the good folks at Wikipedia, are defined as follows:

In addition to the 32 selections in each of the seven rounds, a total of 32 compensatory picks are awarded to teams that have lost more or better compensatory free agents than they signed in the previous year. Teams that gain and lose the same number of players but lose higher-valued players than they gain also can be awarded a pick, but only in the seventh round, after the other compensatory picks. Compensatory picks cannot be traded, and the placement of the picks is determined by a proprietary formula based on the player's salary, playing time, and postseason honors with his new team, with salary being the primary factor. So, for example, a team that lost a linebacker who signed for $2.5 million per year in free agency might get a sixth-round compensatory pick, while a team that lost a wide receiver who signed for $5 million per year might receive a fourth-round pick. awarded at the ends of Rounds 3 through 7.

The Vikings did not meet the provisions that you see there, and as a result did not receive any compensatory picks. Still, 11 draft picks is pretty good. Once we get it all figured out, we'll be along to finalize exactly where all 11 of those selections lie in the draft order for the 2013 NFL Draft.