No one knows the jungle that is the NFL’s compensatory formula better than Over the Cap’s Nick Korte. Korte published his final comp pick predictions Friday afternoon and projects the Pittsburgh Steelers to receive a 3rd round pick for losing Le’Veon Bell in the offseason.
Of course, this is far from a surprise. Pittsburgh’s always been projected to get a third rounder and put themselves in position to do so after cutting ties with Donte Moncrief mid-season. The comp pick should come in around pick #100. The Steelers currently hold the 49th or 50th pick in the second round, giving them limited draft capital this year.
The third rounder is the only pick Korte projects the Steelers to receive this offseason. Anything else they may have been eligible for is cancelled out by their signing of CB Steven Nelson.
Bell ultimately had a poor year on a below-average Jets team. Here’s a comparison of his stats from his final year in Pittsburgh to 2019 in New York.
2017: 321 carries, 1291 yards (4.0 YPC) 11 total touchdowns
2019: 245 carries, 789 yards (3.2 YPC) 4 total touchdowns
Head coach Adam Gase has made his displeasure of the Bell signing abundantly clear and it’s possible, likely even, the Jets trade him during the offseason. Pittsburgh was reportedly interested, to what level we don’t know, in Bell at the trade deadline though he ultimately remained in New York.
Korte projects five teams other than Pittsburgh to receive third round comp picks: New England (with two picks), the Giants, Seattle, Houston, and Philadelphia.
According to his projections, the Patriots and Seahawks are expected to receive the most amount of compensatory picks with four apiece.
The league will announce the official results sometime in the next six to seven weeks. Last year, they were released on February 22nd.
Looking ahead to next season, assuming a very quiet free agency period for Pittsburgh in 2020, they should net a 3rd/4th round comp pick in 2021 for Javon Hargrave, depending on the contract he receives on the open market.
