The Ravens have been awarded a third-round compensatory pick (No. 102 overall) in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Essentially, Baltimore turned a 2013 sixth-round pick into a 2019 third-round pick and got the best season (so far) of Ryan Jensen's career.
That is exhibit A on how the compensatory pick game is played.
Nobody has played the game better than the Ravens, who have now received 50 compensatory picks since the program was launched in 1994, eight more than the next closest team. It's the third time they've gotten a third-round comp pick (2008, 2014).
With the compensatory pick, the Ravens will now have eight picks in the 2019 draft once the reported Joe Flacco trade is official.
- Round 1, No. 22 overall
- Round 3, No. 85
- Round 3, No. 102 (comp pick)
- Round 4, No. 113 (from Denver)
- Round 4, No. 123
- Round 5, No. 160
- Round 6, No. 191 (from Tennessee for Kamalei Correa)
- Round 6, No. 193
Compensatory picks are awarded to teams who lose players as unrestricted free agents. According to the NFL Management Council, a team losing more or better free agents than it acquired in the previous year is eligible to receive picks. To determine "better" free agents, the council looks at average salaries, playing time and postseason awards.
Ozzie Newsome mastered the system, and it's expected that new General Manager Eric DeCosta, along with Baltimore's coaches, will continue with that draft-and-develop formula while also retaining the Ravens' best young players.
Jensen signed a reported four-year, $42 million contract last offseason with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which made him the highest-paid center in the league.
Only three NFL centers had lower grades from Pro Football Focus (PFF) in 2019, as Jensen allowed an NFL-high 10 quarterback hits and committed a league-high 11 penalties. The Ravens instead turned to undrafted former backup Matt Skura and got better results, according to PFF, at a much cheaper price.
The Ravens did not get a compensatory pick in return for losing Mike Wallace to the Philadelphia Eagles last year. There was some speculation that Baltimore could get a seventh-rounder, but his contract was laden with easily-attainable incentives, which affects the league's formula. The Ravens lost Jensen, Wallace and Benjamin Watson in free agency last offseason. They signed John Brown.
