GREEN BAY – The NFL has awarded the Packers four compensatory selections in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft based on Green Bay's net loss in free agency a year ago.
The Packers will receive an additional fourth-round pick (133rd overall), two fifth-round selections (No. 172, 174) and a sixth-rounder (207) as compensation after losing G T.J. Lang, S Micah Hyde, DE Julius Peppers, TE Jared Cook and C JC Tretter when their contracts expired last year. The only free agent the Packers gained was G Jahri Evans.
The formula takes into account the length and size of the contract the player signed with his new team, plus playing time and any league honors earned.
The four compensatory selections give new Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst a total of 12 choices in this year's draft. Green Bay already had one extra selection in the seventh round, in addition to its seven standard picks, from the 2016 trade with Buffalo involving LB Lerentee McCray.
Compensatory picks now can be traded after a change the NFL made last year. The league awards 32 compensatory picks each year, a number that corresponds with the number of teams in the league, and they are placed at the end of the third through seventh rounds.
Since the awarding of compensatory picks began back in 1994, the Packers have now received 42 compensatory choices. During Ted Thompson's tenure as GM, compensatory draft picks netted the Packers Pro Bowl DT Mike Daniels (2012) and G Josh Sitton (2008), LB Blake Martinez (2016) and DE Dean Lowry (2016).
Green Bay's 2018 draft picks by round
First round (1)
Second round (1)
Third round (1)
Fourth round (2)
Fifth round (3)
Sixth round (2)
Seventh round (2)
Total: 12
