Redskins Awarded Zero Compensatory Picks

The Washington Redskins were left out of the compensatory draft pick party by the NFL. Despite losing big time contributors J.D. Walton, Josh Wilson, Josh Morgan, and Darryl Tapp, the signings of the motley crew of Tracy Porter, Akeem Jordan, Adam Hayward, Ryan Clark and others cancelled out their loss.  Looking at next year, Brian Orakpo signed a lucrative contract with Tennessee, but the Redskins gave a similar contract to CB Chris Culliver. The Redskins also lost Leonard Hankerson and Roy Helu, Jr., but they will be cancelled out by Stephen Paea, Terrance Knighton, and Jeron Johnson.  So unless Brandon Meriweather, Jarvis Jenkins, Tyler Polumbus, and E.J. Biggers all get the contracts they think they deserve, the Redskins are out of luck again next year.

As fans of a team who has found itself on the wrong side of a lopsided record more times than we would care to remember, it is difficult to see us also not get picks that would drastically change our fortunes. I get that it is a calculation based on who leaves, how much they are paid, and who arrives along with how much they are paid. It makes sense that our team has not been bleeding superstars on an annual basis. It makes sense that a team with as many problems as we have finds itself in a mode of always trying to add upgrades on the roster.

Seeing the New England Patriots add a third rounder every year (I believe they were awarded the top compensatory pick...again) hurts. On one hand, I get it: great teams lose great players because of salary cap issues and hard choices. Perennial winners have to carefully balance who they keep and how much they pay their top talent because the slightest mismanagement there results in a quick elevator ride to the basement. Still, you just know Bill Belichick is going to extract more than 100% of the value of that extra pick somehow. It's what he does.

It stands to reason that this is yet another of the many things McLovin' will focus his efforts on in the coming years. The compensatory pick process is somewhat mysterious, but teams understand generally how it works, and if New England is out there making this process work for them, you better believe it is important for us to figure out.

(Today's picture is a former compensatory draft pick for the Redskins. It's an easy one today, should be no problem.)