Will Buffalo Bills get compensatory picks in 2018?

While NFL free agency isn’t technically over, the significant majority of spending has been completed. While we’ll look ahead to the draft for the next month, let’s take a few minutes to project whether or not the Buffalo Bills should get any compensatory picks in 2018.

Those selections given out by the NFL when a team loses more unrestricted free agents than it gains. If that’s the case, the size of the contracts then factor into which round the picks are in.

For example: If the Bills lost, say, 7 UFAs and only signed 5 UFAs, they’d be in line for two compensatory picks.

At that point, Gilmore’s $13M APY would probably turn into a Round 3 pick, the highest a compensatory pick can be. Woods’ sizable deal would likely equate to a Round 4 or Round 5 selection.

Here’s what the Bills compensatory formula looks like right now, according to OverTheCap.com.

Lost UFAs: 6 players

Stephon Gilmore ($13M APY)

Robert Woods ($7.8M APY)

Marquise Goodwin ($2.95M APY)

Justin Hunter (Unknown APY)

Lerentee McCray ($3.5M APY)

EJ Manuel (Unknown APY)

Gained UFAs: 8 players

Micah Hyde ($5.7M)

Patrick DiMarco ($2.15M)

Jordan Poyer ($3.25M)

Vladimir Ducasse ($1.66M)

Stephen Hauschka ($2.95M)

Andre Holmes ($2.16M)

Ryan Davis ($1.1M)

Leonard Johnson (Unknown)

Because Buffalo has actually gained more UFAs than it has lost, at this point, the Bills are not in line for any compensatory selections in 2018. Because Aaron Williams, Nickell Robey-Coleman, Corey Graham, Marcus Easley, and Dan Carpenter were cut, they will not count in the formula if and when they’re signed by another team.

However, if Zach Brown agrees to a deal with another team, he’d count in the “lost UFAs” column, as would Corbin Bryant, Jerome Felton, Chris Gragg, Brandon Tate, Corey White, Robert Blanton, and Brandon Spikes. Of that group, Brown is destined to sign somewhere, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Gragg and Tate inked contracts too. The “free-agent” period in which UFAs can qualify for the compensatory formula runs through the start of training camp.