When the NFL announced the compensatory picks for the 2021 NFL draft last week, the Patriots did not have a fifth-round compensatory pick. When the NFL announced the official draft order on Friday, the Patriots did have a fifth-round compensatory pick.
The league has confirmed that the Patriots received an additional fifth-round compensatory pick in next month’s draft.
In the last week, the NFL realized a mistake in its calculation of the complex formula for determining compensatory picks, which resulted in the Patriots getting a fifth-round pick and also resulted in the Falcons’ fifth-round compensatory pick moving down to slots.
Ordinarily there’s a limit of 32 compensatory picks, and that would mean the Patriots getting an additional pick would force the Bears, who received the 32nd and final compensatory pick, to lose that pick. But the NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to allow the Bears to keep their compensatory picks, meaning none of the picks announced last week were lost.
