Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Compensatory Picks Released

5:30am EDT


And the Lions got . . .none. This wasn't a surprise. Compensatory picks are awarded to teams that lose more Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA) than they gain, with an emphasis put on the Average per Year (APY) value of the contract that was signed and additional consideration given to playing time. An UFA is a player whose contract has expired or who voided his contract. Last year during the unrestricted free agency period, we had:

The following significant roster acquisitions:

  • Dewayne White - 5.8M APY
  • TJ Duckett - 1.6M APY
  • Shaun McDonald - 1.4M APY
  • Edwin Mulitalo - Released by the Ravens, doesn't qualify
  • George Foster - Traded for, doesn't qualify
  • Tatum Bell - Traded for, doesn't qualify

Significant roster losses:

  • Terrance Holt - 3M APY
  • Jamar Fletcher - 1.125M APY
  • Dre' Bly - Traded away, doesn't qualify
  • James Hall - Traded away, doesn't qualify
  • Marcus Pollard - Released, doesn't qualify
  • Ross Verba - Released, doesn't qualify
  • Marcus Bell - Released, doesn't qualify

2009 compensatory draft picks might be a little different. We only signed a few unrestricted free agents, but had more significant unrestricted free agent losses than we've had in previous years.

Significant Roster Additions:

  • Dwight Smith - Cut by Vikings, does not qualify
  • Leigh Bodden - Traded for, does not qualify
  • Kalvin Pearson - designated as a restricted free agent, does not qualify
  • Corey Hulsey - insignificant
  • Alfred Fincher - insignificant
  • Gilbert Gardner - insignificant
  • Michael Gaines - Signed a 4 year 10M contract (2.5M APY)
  • Chuck Darby - Signed a 3 year 4.7M contract (1.55M APY)
  • Brian Kelly - Signed a 3 year 9M contract (3M APY)

Significant Roster Losses:

  • Shaun Rogers -Traded, does not qualify
  • Fernando Bryant - Released, does not qualify
  • Kalimba Edwards - Released, does not qualify
  • Kenoy Kennedy - Released, does not qualify
  • Kevin Jones - Released, does not qualify
  • TJ Duckett - Signed a 5 year 13.1M contract (2.6M APY)
  • Boss Bailey - Signed a 5 year 17.5M contract (3.5M APY)
  • Damien Woody - Signed a 5 year 25.5M contract (5.1M APY)
  • Teddy Lehman - Signed a 1 year 1.2M contract with another 500K in incentives

Financial details of Brian Kelly's contract were not released, so I'm making an educated guess on what he may have signed for. I'm also not 100% sure that he qualifies as an UFA. He paid back a percentage of his signing bonus to become a free agent this year. My guess is that he paid it back and Tampa Bay gave him the option to void his contract. If that's the case, he'd qualify as a UFA. If he paid back part of the bonus and they subsequently released him, he would not qualify as an UFA.

Playing time and any post season honors will effect the determination of compensatory picks, but initially, I think we may be looking at getting a 4th round compensatory pick for Damien Woody, provided that he's healthy and starts every or most games. Gaines and Duckett would offset each other, Darby and Lehman would offset each other and Kelly and Bailey would offset each other. If Kelly is not considered an UFA (I really think he is), we could get a 6th round pick for Boss, depending on playing time. I made these estimates based on information posted by AdamJT in his blog. He attempted to predict the compensatory picks for all teams and he came pretty close. His blog on compensatory picks is worth a read through if you have time.

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