The Pittsburgh Steelers could use all of the draft capital they can possibly get with several holes to fill on their roster, but don’t expect that help to come via compensatory picks in 2025. Over The Cap’s Nick Korte released his final projection for the 2025 NFL Draft, and it comes as no surprise that the Steelers are projected to receive zero comp picks.
The comp-pick process takes into account free agent signings and losses from the year prior. Teams that lose more compensatory free agents than they sign usually get picks based on the size of the contract, number of snaps played, and honors received during that season. Here is OTC’s guide on how that is calculated.
Based on OTC’s tracking, the Steelers lost two compensatory free agents with Mason Rudolph and Armon Watts signing elsewhere. Their contracts weren’t huge, and they were canceled out by the Steelers signing four total compensatory free agents. S DeSon Elliott and RB/KR Cordarrelle Patterson were the two who canceled out Rudolph and Watts.
In addition to Elliott and Patterson, the Steelers gained ILB Patrick Queen and P Cameron Johnston on qualifying contracts. The Steelers weren’t even close to factoring into the comp pick formula to actually gain a draft pick.
The Cincinnati Bengals are also projected to be without any comp picks, but the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns should both be receiving some help.
The Ravens are one of the best teams in the league at playing the comp-pick formula to receive draft value. It’s no surprise that they are projected to be awarded four comp picks ranging from the fourth to the sixth round. The fourth-round pick is projected to come directly from the Steelers signing Queen to the largest external free agent contract in franchise history. They should also gain picks from losing Jadeveon Clowney, Geno Stone, and Kevin Zeitler.
The Cleveland Browns should also receive some comp picks with Joe Flacco and Jordan Elliott the qualifying players who weren’t canceled out by other signings. Those should net them two sixth-round picks, and Korte is projecting they also receive a supplementary pick at the end of the seventh round due to their spot in the regular draft order.
With the Steelers shifting their roster building to be much more aggressive in free agency over the last several years, they haven’t been benefiting from the compensatory-pick formula as much lately. The last few comp picks they had were used on OL Spencer Anderson in the seventh round of 2023, WR Calvin Austin III in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and Buddy Johnson in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
