What Can Steelers Expect for Compensation Picks?

In 2013 the NFL announced that year’s compensatory picks on Monday, March 18th. The picks are usually announced at owner meetings which occur next week.

My guess is we’ll know sometime Monday what picks the Steelers are picking up.

The formula for awarding those picks is largely unknown. What we do know is players lost to free agency and players signed is the biggest factor.

The Steelers lost possibly the hottest name on the free agency list last off-season in Mike Wallace, and not in tier-1, but still a very solid player in Keenan Lewis.

The Steelers didn’t make any significant additions; just role players such as Larod Stephens-Howling and Matt Spaeth. Fernando Velasco doesn’t count because the season had already started.

That should be good news for the Steelers as far as compensatory picks go. A blogger by the name of Craig Turner has predicted fairly accurately the past few seasons which teams will get a pick, and in what round.

Turner has predicted the Steelers will receive an extra 3rd and a 5th round selection in the 2014 draft.

Considering the Steelers don’t currently hold a 3rd round pick that they traded to Cleveland for Shamarko Thomas, they desperately need to pick up a 3rd here.

A terrible thought keeps creeping into the back of my mind that maybe this is where the NFL gives the Steelers a little slap on the wrist for Tomlin’s sideline incident on Thanksgiving night. Maybe that 3rd turns into a 4th instead.

That’s just me speculating, and a little bit of whacky conspiracy theory on my part though.

Those picks could have a very big impact on the Steelers’ draft. If they Steelers don’t receive a 3rd round pick, I think that would make them much more likely to trade down in round 1 to pick up another pick.