The NFL awarded the Seahawks four supplemental choices in the 2015 draft as a result of sustaining losses in free agency last year. Seattle will get additional picks in the fourth round (134th overall), fifth round (170th) and two in the sixth (209th, 214th). The Seahawks have 11 picks in the April 30-May 2 draft, held in Chicago.
Compensatory picks are awarded to teams whose free-agent losses a year earlier outweigh the free-agent additions made in the same off-season. Under compensation rules, the Seahawks cannot trade any of the supplemental picks.
Seattle received the four picks as compensation for losing free-agent wide receiver Golden Tate (Detroit), cornerback Brandon Browner (New England), tackle Breno Giacomini (New York Jets) and defensive tackle Clinton McDonald (Tampa Bay) following its Super Bowl XLVIII win over Denver after the 2013 season.
The Seahawks do not have a No. 1 pick this year, having traded it (31st overall) to New Orleans to acquire TE Jimmy Graham earlier this month. Seattle’s first pick will be 63rd overall.
The Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs were also awarded four supplemental picks while the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans each had three. In the NFC West, San Francisco collected two supplementals (132, 254) while St. Louis (215) and Arizona (256) each received one. The NFL awarded a total of 32.
Seattle’s 11 picks are tied for the most (with 2013) in the Pete Carroll-John Schneider era.
In 2011, Seattle used a supplemental choice (242nd overall) to draft LB Malcolm Smith of USC. He became the MVP of Super Bowl XLVIII. Smith has since moved to the Oakland Raiders.
2 Comments
IIRC, these picks are used after the regular draft is done. This doesn’t seem to be a very deep draft however we’ve seen the Hawks have success in the lower rounds. At the very least they’ll shore up the depth they lost in free agency.
Not quite. Compensatory picks are made at the end of the round they’re assigned to between Rounds 3 and 7, so the Hawks will have picks at the end of the fourth and fifth rounds plus two more at the end of the sixth. It doesn’t seem to matter much how deep a draft is rated because Schneider and Carroll seem to always find gems in the later rounds and I think this year will be no different.
There’s a reason players WANT to come to Seattle now: They’ll get a fair chance to make the team and even start, whether they’re a first-rounder from Alabama, a seventh-rounder from Adrian or a guy who was buried on the practice squad in Atlanta. Once he’s in town, PC is more interested in whether a guy can actually play than what his resume says.