Chiefs Off To A Good Start For 2013 Compensatory Picks

The NFL has awarded compensatory picks for the 2012 NFL draft and the Kansas City Chiefs got nothing out of it. They weren't awarded any compensatory picks which means there are no extra draft picks this year.

But the 2013 NFL draft should be very nice to the Chiefs when it comes to compensatory picks. A lot of folks don't realize this but the Chiefs do keep track of compensatory picks and I'm sure that's a factor in at least some signings.

What they've done in free agency this year has set themselves up nicely for comp picks next year. The big additions, like Stanford Routt, Kevin Boss and Eric Winston, are not qualifying free agents. They were all cut by their former team meaning they weren't "true" unrestricted free agents. This means they will not count against the Chiefs when it comes to compensatory picks next year. That's a good thing.

They allowed a few guys to hit free agency and those players secured nice contracts elsewhere, including Brandon Carr, Kyle Orton and Le'Ron McClain. Carr, in particular, has the potential to bring in a very high compensatory pick. If a guy like Routt or Winston were qualifying free agents, they could cancel out a potentially big comp pick from Carr, so this is a nice strategy by the Chiefs (whether this was part of an actual strategy or not).

So be watching out on these free agent signings on how these players hit the market, whether they were cut or true free agents. It matters.

The exact formula for determining compensatory picks isn't known but I think the Chiefs are looking good for next year's compensatory picks.