2023 NFL Draft: Projecting Green Bay Packers compensatory picks

In the 2022 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers used their two compensatory draft picks to add offensive lineman Zach Tom from Wake Forest and wide receiver Samori Toure from Nebraska. The fourth-rounder and seventh-rounder were two of the Packers’ 11 selections.

In 2023, the team will likely have just one compensatory pick, according to NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein. The NFL Draft analyst broke down the projected compensatory picks for all 32 teams this week.

Green Bay Packers’ potential 2023 compensatory picks

The Green Bay Packers will have fewer compensatory picks in 2023 than they had in the 2022 NFL Draft because they were only minorly impacted in free agency this offseason.

Wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling went to Kansas City and guard Lucas Patrick signed with Chicago but the Packers picked up defensive lineman Jarran Reed. The former Alabama standout was a second-round draft pick in 2016. Valdez-Scantling was a fifth-round pick in 2018, which gives Green Bay one fifth-rounder for 2023.

“The loss of Patrick is canceled out by the signing of Reed, leaving the departure of Valdes-Scantling to provide a future fifth-round compensatory choice,” Zierlein said.

How the NFL distributes compensatory draft picks

The number of compensatory picks each year is the same as the number of teams in the league (32), per the collective bargaining agreement. However, the NFL does not divide up compensatory picks equally among the teams. No team can receive more than four compensatory picks (in exchange for a player leaving) in a single year.

Per the league, a team losing more or better compensatory free agents than it acquires is eligible. The compensatory picks go from Round 3 to Round 7 based on the value of the compensatory free agents lost. The formula that determines compensatory free agents is based on salary, playing time and postseason honors.

Last season, the NFL awarded seven special selections at the end of the third round to teams that had a minority employee hired as a head coach or general manager by another club. The special compensatory selections are the result of an amendment to the 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement. It’s an effort to promote equal employment opportunities within NFL teams.