Bears projected no ’24 comp picks after free agency start originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The first wave of free agency has come and gone, and so far the Bears have added a lot more than they lost. Accordingly, they are currently not projected to earn any compensatory picks for the 2024 NFL Draft.
OverTheCap is a site that tracks free agent contracts in the NFL, and they use that information to predict which teams will or won’t earn comp picks for any given year. Right now, they think the NFL will award 14 teams extra picks next year and the Bears aren’t one of them.
The NFL uses a formula to determine the value of free agents lost and free agents gained for each team over the offseason. That formula includes a player’s average salary per year, their snap count and any postseason awards they have earned. Other factors can play a role in the calculation as well, like losing head coaches or front office staff, or hiring a minority coach. If a team is determined to have lost more value in free agency than they gained, they’ll be awarded a comp pick.
RELATED: Bears go CB at no. 9 in the new 7-round mock draft
As things stand now, OverTheCap has two compensatory losses working in favor of the Bears, but seven signings working against them. David Montgomery’s deal with the Lions and Riley Reiff’s deal with the Patriots each carried a sixth-round comp pick value, per OTC’s projections. Meanwhile, Tremaine Edmunds carries a third-round value, Nate Davis has a fourth-round value, TJ Edwards and DeMarcus Walker are each slotted with a sixth-round value, and Andrew Billings, Robert Tonyan and D’Onta Foreman have a seventh-round value.
The Bears will likely add more free agents as the second and third waves continue. They’ll lose some more, too. Depending on how things shake out, things could change and the Bears could find themselves in line for a late-round comp pick in 2024.
Comps picks start at the end of the third round and continue all the way to the end of the draft. Comp picks are also limited to four per team. The NFL awarded 37 picks to 16 teams this year. The Bears received one: the No. 258 overall pick, which is the second-to-last pick of the draft.
Click here to follow the Under Center Podcast.