Tom Brady left the New England Patriots and won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Patriots’ consolation prize? They have the most compensatory picks in the 2021 NFL draft, starting with the highest one awarded for losing Brady.
New England added additional third- and fourth-round picks in the upcoming draft — Nos. 96 and 140 overall. They also let Jamie Collins and Kyle Van Noy go in free agency.
Bill Belichick’s team previously had lost its third-round pick this year for their illegal recording of the Cincinnati Bengals‘ sideline two years ago. But the Patriots now have a total of nine picks overall in this draft.
The Dallas Cowboys received the most 2021 picks with four, one each in Rounds 3 (No. 99 overall), 4 (No. 139), 5 (No. 179) and 6 (No. 227) in return for losing Byron Jones, Randall Cobb, Robert Quinn and others last year in free agency.
Other teams earning third-round selections are the Los Angeles Chargers (97th overall), New Orleans Saints (98th and 106th), Tennessee Titans (100th), Los Angeles Rams (101st and 104th), San Francisco 49ers (102nd and 103rd) and Baltimore Ravens (105th).
The league annually dishes out a total of 32 picks based on a complex, obscure formula based on a net loss of free agents (versus free agents signed). The picks are tacked onto the end of the regular order for each round starting with Round 3. The NFL now allows these compensatory picks to be traded.
Here is the full list of picks:
And for you draft completists out there, the Chicago Bears now hold the final pick in the 2021 NFL draft — aka, the “Mr. Irrelevant” pick. That is, if they don’t trade it.
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