Saints Receive 7th Round Compensatory Draft Pick

The New Orleans Saints are the proud owner of the 242nd overall draft pick in the 2011 NFL Draft thanks to the rules of compensatory draft selections. 

Because Scott Fujita was more valuable to the Cleveland Browns - based upon salary and performance - than Jimmy Wilkerson was to the Saints here in New Orleans, the Saints are now the proud owners of an additional draft pick in the 7th round this year.  

We know what the Saints can get from a 7th round draft pick.

Make the jump for the official release from the NFL.

NFL ANNOUNCES 32 COMPENSATORY DRAFT CHOICES TO 23 CLUBS

A total of 32 compensatory choices in the 2011 NFL Draft have been awarded to 23 teams, the NFL announced today. 

Under the rules for compensatory draft selections, a team losing more or better compensatory free agents than it acquires in the previous year is eligible to receive compensatory draft picks.

The number of picks a team receives equals the net loss of compensatory free agents up to a maximum of four.  The 32 compensatory choices announced today will supplement the 221 choices in the seven rounds of the 2011 NFL Draft (April 28-30), which will kick off in primetime for the second consecutive year.

The first round will be held on Thursday, April 28 and begin at 8:00 PM ET.  The second and third rounds are set for Friday, April 29 at 6:00 PM ET followed by rounds 4-7 on Saturday, April 30 at Noon ET.

This year, the compensatory picks will be positioned within the third through seventh rounds based on the value of the compensatory free agents lost.

Compensatory free agents are determined by a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors.  The formula was developed by the NFL Management Council.  Not every free agent lost or signed by a club is covered by this formula. 

Three clubs this year (Oakland, Seattle and New Orleans) will each receive a compensatory pick even though they did not suffer a net loss of compensatory free agents last year.  Under the formula, the compensatory free agents lost by these clubs were ranked higher than the ones they signed (by a specified point differential based upon salary and performance).

Twenty-one compensatory picks were awarded to clubs based upon the compensatory pick formula.  By rule, 11 additional choices were awarded at the end of the seventh round to bring the total number of compensatory selections to 32, equaling the number of NFL clubs.  The 11 additional picks were awarded to Carolina, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Denver, Cleveland, Arizona, San Francisco, Tennessee, Dallas, Washington and Houston based upon the 2011 draft selection order.

The following 2011 draft picks have been determined by the NFL Management Council:

Following are the compensatory free agents lost and signed last year by the clubs that will receive compensatory picks in the 2011 NFL Draft:

TOTAL 2011 NFL COMPENSATORY DRAFT PICKS

NFL CLUB SUMMARY OF COMPENSATORY DRAFT PICKS, 1994-2011 *

* 1994 was the first year that compensatory draft choices were awarded; ** St. Louis picks include those awarded to Los Angeles Rams: *** Tennessee picks include those awarded to Houston Oilers.