Monday, December 21, 2009

Early comp pick projections for 2010, Part III

The third post of my series explaining at the compensatory pick possibilities for each team takes a look at the remaining teams in the NFC South and NFC West.

Click here to read why the other teams in the NFC South and NFC West won't get any comp picks in 2010.

Click here to review the Unrestricted Free Agents lost and signed by each team during the qualifying period of the 2009 offseason.


Atlanta — The Falcons lost four qualifying players and signed either one or two. They should receive a third- or fourth-round pick for losing Dominique Foxworth and a fifth or sixth for losing Michael Boley. If Brett Romberg does not qualify, the Falcons also will receive a pick as compensation for losing Grady Jackson, likely in the seventh round.

Carolina — The Panthers didn't sign any qualifying players, so they will receive a comp pick for each qualifying player lost. They should get a fifth or sixth for Geoff Hangartner and a sixth or seventh for Frank Omiyale. There is a small chance that Mark Jones also will qualify. If so, the Panthers would get a seventh for him.

Tampa Bay — The Buccaneers will not get a comp pick. They lost only two qualifying players, and they signed either three or four.

Arizona — The Cardinals could get a third- or fourth-round pick, or they could get nothing. They lost one player who definitely will qualify and signed one player who definitely will qualify. The question is whether Terrelle Smith will count as a player lost and whether Jason Wright will count as a player signed. At this point, I would project that both of them will qualify based on their contract values, leaving the Cardinals with no comp picks. If Wright qualfies and Smith doesn't, they wouldn't get a comp pick, either. But if Smith qualifies and Wright doesn't, the Cardinals would get a third- or fourth-round pick as compensation for losing Antonio Smith.

San Francisco — The 49ers should get one comp pick, with a very small chance that they'll get two. They signed three players who qualify and lost four who qualify and one who is on the bubble but almost certainly will not qualify. Their comp pick would be in the sixth or seventh round, most likely the seventh. If they do get a second comp pick, it would be in the seventh.

Seattle — Any comp picks the Seahawks get will be in the seventh round. The only question is how many. They signed two players who will qualify and one who might qualify. They lost three players who will qualify and two who might. The various combinations of John Owens qualifying as a player signed, Bobby Engram qualifying as a player lost and/or Floyd Womack qualifying as a player lost could result in the Seahawks getting one, two or even three seventh-round comp picks.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Early comp pick projections for 2010, Part II

In the second post of my series explaining at the compensatory pick possibilities for each team, it's time to take a look at the remaining teams in the NFC East and NFC North.

Click here to read why the other teams in the NFC East and NFC North won't get any comp picks in 2010.

Click here to review the Unrestricted Free Agents lost and signed by each team during the qualifying period of the 2009 offseason.


Philadelphia — The Eagles signed three players who will qualify for the comp picks equation and lost five players who will qualify, so they should receive two picks. The only player they lost whose compensatory value is higher than a seventh-round pick is Brian Dawkins, and the signing of Stacy Andrews, whose average contract value is almost twice as much, cancels out the loss of Dawkins. Therefore, the Eagles should receive two comp picks in the seventh round.

Minnesota — The Vikings lost two qualifying players and signed one, giving them one comp pick. The signing of Karl Paymah cancels out the loss of their lower-valued player lost, and that is Darren Sharper, whose performance this season is irrelevant to the equation. That leaves the Vikings with a pick as compensation for losing Matt Birk, in either the fifth or sixth round.

Green Bay — The Packers lost Colin Cole and didn't sign anyone who will qualify. They should receive a comp pick in either the fifth or sixth round.

Chicago — The Bears will not receive a comp pick. They signed two players who will qualify, and they lost one who will qualify and one (Brandon McGowan) who almost certainly will not qualify. Even if McGowan somehow qualifies, the combined values of the players signed is more than that of the players lost, so the Bears will not even receive a "net value" pick.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Early comp pick projections for 2010, Part I

To begin my series of posts explaining at the compensatory pick possibilities for each team, I'll take a look at nine teams who definitely won't be getting any true comp picks in 2010. They are Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, New Orleans, the New York Giants, St. Louis and Washington. (Note that the posts in this series are not my final projections and are subject to change, but they are my best estimations at this point in time.) There might be other teams that won't get any comp picks, either, and they will be addressed later in the series.

Click here to review the Unrestricted Free Agents lost and signed by each team during the qualifying period of the 2009 offseason.

As a reminder, teams cannot receive a true comp pick if they signed more qualifying players than they lost. If they signed as many as they lost, the only true comp pick they could get is what I call a "net value" comp pick. Those are awarded at the end of the seventh round, after the normal comp picks. To get a "net value" pick, a team must have lost the same number of qualifying players as they signed, and the players they lost must have a combined value that is significantly higher than the players they signed.


Here's the situation for each of these nine teams —


Cleveland — The Browns signed three players who will qualify and two more who might qualify. They lost only one player who definitely will qualify and two others who are on the bubble to qualify. Even if both bubble players that were lost qualify for the equation and neither of the bubble players the Browns signed qualify, the combined value of the players signed is greater than that of the players lost. That means the Browns won't even get a "net value" comp pick.

Dallas — The Cowboys signed three qualifying players and lost two, plus one who is on the bubble for qualifying. Even if the bubble player qualifies and the Cowboys break even in the equation, the values on each side of the ledger are too close for the Cowboys to get a "net value" pick.

Denver — The Broncos lost only one qualifying player and signed 10. They definitely won't get anything.

Detroit — The Lions lost three qualifying players and one who might qualify. They signed seven players who qualify, so they will not get a comp pick.

Houston — The Texans lost only one qualifying player and signed three.

New Orleans — The Saints lost only one qualifying player. They signed three who will qualify and two more who are on the bubble.

New York Giants — The Giants lost two players who will qualify and one who might qualify. They signed four players who will qualify.

St. Louis — The Rams lost only one player who might qualify. They signed three players who will qualify and one who might.

Washington — The Redskins lost only one player who will qualify (Demetric Evans). They signed one who definitely will qualify (Albert Haynesworth) and two others who are on the bubble. Even if neither of the bubble players qualifies, Haynesworth's value is far greater than Evans' value, so the Redskins would not get a "net value" pick.


A few of those teams have a chance to get an additional non-compensatory pick, if the NFL awards fewer than 32 true comp picks. If fewer than 32 are awarded, the NFL adds picks as if the eighth round were starting, until a total of 32 additional comp picks and non-comp picks have been awarded.

The Rams, Browns, Lions, Redskins and possibly the Texans could be in contention for non-comp picks, depending on their position in the final draft order and how many non-comp picks are awarded, if any.

Monday, November 30, 2009

An updated look at the 2010 comp picks

Here's an updated look at the players eligible for the 2010 compensatory picks equation. For players who were cut during the season, the date is included, as is the date they re-signed, if applicable. Players on the bubble to qualify for the equation are listed either as "high bubble" or "low bubble." The "high bubble" players typically have a better chance of qualifying, depending on their playing time. "NQ" indicates that the player did not sign for enough money to qualify for the equation.

The list --


ARIZONA
Lost – DE Antonio Smith, CB Eric Green (cut), RB Terrelle Smith, LB Monty Beisel (low bubble, cut 9/29), RB J.J. Arrington (cut)
Signed – CB Bryant McFadden, RB Jason Wright (high bubble)

ATLANTA
Lost – CB Dominique Foxworth, LB Michael Boley, LB Keith Brooking, DT Grady Jackson
Signed – LB Mike Peterson, C Brett Romberg (high bubble)

BALTIMORE
Lost – LB Bart Scott, C Jason Brown, S Jim Leonhard, QB Kyle Boller, CB Corey Ivy (low bubble, cut), FB Lorenzo Neal (low bubble, cut), WR Terrance Copper (NQ)
Signed – CB Dominique Foxworth, C Matt Birk, CB Chris Carr, TE L.J. Smith

BUFFALO
Lost – CB Jabari Greer, LB Angelo Crowell, C Duke Preston (high bubble, cut), DE Tony Hargrove (NQ)
Signed – C Geoff Hangartner, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, RB Dominic Rhodes (cut), G Seth McKinney (NQ), LB Patrick Thomas (NQ, cut)

CAROLINA
Lost – C Geoff Hangartner, T Frank Omiyale, WR Mark Jones (high bubble, cut 9/5, re-signed 9/29), LB Adam Seward (NQ, cut)
Signed – none

CHICAGO
Lost – T John St. Clair, S Brandon McGowan (low bubble)
Signed – T Frank Omiyale, S Josh Bullocks

CINCINNATI
Lost – WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, T Stacy Andrews, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, G Eric Ghiaciuc (NQ, cut)
Signed – WR Laveranues Coles, QB J.T. O’Sullivan, DT Tank Johnson (NQ)

CLEVELAND
Lost – S Sean Jones, RB Jason Wright (high bubble), G Scott Young (cut), TE Darnell Dinkins (low bubble), G Seth McKinney (NQ), CB Travis Daniels (NQ, cut)
Signed – LB Eric Barton, T John St. Clair, DE C.J. Mosley, T Floyd Womack (high bubble), CB Corey Ivy (low bubble, cut), CB Hank Poteat (low bubble)

DALLAS
Lost – DE Chris Canty, LB Kevin Burnett, LB Zach Thomas (cut), G Joe Berger (high bubble), DT Tank Johnson (NQ), S Keith Davis (NQ, cut)
Signed – DT Igor Olshansky, LB Keith Brooking, S Gerald Sensabaugh

DENVER
Lost – CB Karl Paymah, QB Patrick Ramsey (low bubble, cut 10/3)
Signed – CB Andre Goodman, S Brian Dawkins, QB Chris Simms, NT Ronald Fields, WR Jabar Gaffney, CB Renaldo Hill, DT Darrell Reid, RB Correll Buckhalter, RB LaMont Jordan, LS Lonie Paxton, T Brandon Gorin (NQ), RB J.J. Arrington (cut), G Scott Young (cut)

DETROIT
Lost – NT Shaun Cody, QB Dan Orlovsky, RB Moran Norris, TE John Owens (high bubble), LB Paris Lenon (low bubble, cut), WR Shaun McDonald (NQ)
Signed – CB Phillip Buchanon, WR Bryant Johnson, DT Grady Jackson, T Daniel Loper, CB Eric King, RB Maurice Morris, RB Terrelle Smith, LB Cody Spencer (NQ, IR in preseason), TE Will Heller (NQ)

GREEN BAY
Lost – DT Colin Cole
Signed – C Duke Preston (high bubble, cut)

HOUSTON
Lost – S C.C. Brown, CB DeMarcus Faggins (cut), LS Bryan Pittman (NQ, cut)
Signed – DE Antonio Smith, QB Dan Orlovsky, NT Shaun Cody, OL Adrian Jones (NQ, cut)

INDIANAPOLIS
Lost – DT Darrell Reid, RB Dominic Rhodes (cut), P Hunter Smith (low bubble), CB Keiwan Ratliff (NQ)
Signed – LB Adam Seward (NQ, cut)

JACKSONVILLE
Lost – LB Mike Peterson, S Gerald Sensabaugh, T Khalif Barnes, S Pierson Prioleau (low bubble)
Signed – T Tra Thomas, S Sean Considine

KANSAS CITY
Lost – LB Patrick Thomas (NQ, cut), OL Adrian Jones (NQ, cut)
Signed – LB Zach Thomas (cut), G Mike Goff, WR Bobby Engram (cut 11/9), LB Monty Beisel (low bubble, cut 9/29), WR Terrance Copper (NQ), G Eric Ghiaciuc (NQ, cut), CB Travis Daniels (NQ, cut 9/4, re-signed 11/4), TE Sean Ryan (NQ)

MIAMI
Lost – CB Andre Goodman, CB Renaldo Hill, C Al Johnson (high bubble, cut)
Signed – C Jake Grove, CB Eric Green (cut), G Joe Berger (high bubble)

MINNESOTA
Lost – C Matt Birk, S Darren Sharper, T Marcus Johnson (NQ, cut)
Signed – CB Karl Paymah

NEW ENGLAND
Lost – WR Jabar Gaffney, FB Heath Evans, LS Lonie Paxton, RB LaMont Jordan, LB Larry Izzo (low bubble)
Signed – C Al Johnson (high bubble, cut), LB Paris Lenon (low bubble, cut), S Brandon McGowan (low bubble), DT Damane Duckett (cut)

NEW ORLEANS
Lost – S Josh Bullocks
Signed – CB Jabari Greer, S Darren Sharper, FB Heath Evans, TE Darnell Dinkins (low bubble), S Pierson Prioleau (low bubble), DE Tony Hargrove (NQ), C Nick Leckey (NQ)

NEW YORK GIANTS
Lost – RB Derrick Ward, S James Butler, DE Renaldo Wynn (low bubble, cut 10/12, re-signed 10/12, cut 10/18, re-signed 10/19)
Signed – DE Chris Canty, LB Michael Boley, DT Rocky Bernard, S C.C. Brown

NEW YORK JETS
Lost – WR Laveranues Coles, LB Eric Barton, DE C.J. Mosley, K Mike Nugent (cut 10/5), CB Hank Poteat (low bubble), LB Cody Spencer (NQ)
Signed – LB Bart Scott, S Jim Leonhard, CB Donald Strickland, LB Larry Izzo (low bubble), DT Howard Green (NQ, cut 10/17, re-signed 10/20)

OAKLAND
Lost – C Jake Grove, S Rashad Baker (high bubble, cut)
Signed – T Khalif Barnes, QB Jeff Garcia (cut), FB Lorenzo Neal (low bubble, cut), T Marcus Johnson (NQ, cut), DT Ryan Boschetti (NQ, cut), S Keith Davis (NQ, cut)

PHILADELPHIA
Lost – S Brian Dawkins, T Tra Thomas, RB Correll Buckhalter, TE L.J. Smith, S Sean Considine
Signed – T Stacy Andrews, S Sean Jones, RB Leonard Weaver, S Rashad Baker (high bubble, cut)

PITTSBURGH
Lost – CB Bryant McFadden, WR Nate Washington, QB Byron Leftwich, T Marvel Smith (retired)
Signed – WR Shaun McDonald (NQ), CB Keiwan Ratliff (NQ)

SAN DIEGO
Lost – DT Igor Olshansky, G Mike Goff, LB Marques Harris (NQ, cut 10/28)
Signed – LB Kevin Burnett

SAN FRANCISCO
Lost – WR Bryant Johnson, NT Ronald Fields, QB J.T. O’Sullivan, CB Donald Strickland, TE Billy Bajema (low bubble), TE Sean Ryan (NQ), DT Damane Duckett (cut)
Signed – WR Brandon Jones, RB Moran Norris, DE Demetric Evans, T Marvel Smith (retired), LB Marques Harris (NQ, cut 10/28)

SEATTLE
Lost – DT Rocky Bernard, RB Maurice Morris, RB Leonard Weaver, WR Bobby Engram (cut 11/9), T Floyd Womack (high bubble), TE Will Heller (NQ), DT Howard Green (NQ, cut 10/17, re-signed 10/20)
Signed – WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, DT Colin Cole, TE John Owens (high bubble), LS Bryan Pittman (NQ, cut)

ST. LOUIS
Lost – C Brett Romberg (high bubble), C Nick Leckey (NQ), T Brandon Gorin (NQ)
Signed – C Jason Brown, S James Butler, QB Kyle Boller, TE Billy Bajema (low bubble)

TAMPA BAY
Lost – CB Phillip Buchanon, DT Jovan Haye, QB Jeff Garcia (cut)
Signed – RB Derrick Ward, LB Angelo Crowell (IR in preseason), K Mike Nugent (cut 10/5), QB Byron Leftwich

TENNESSEE
Lost – DT Albert Haynesworth, WR Brandon Jones, QB Chris Simms, CB Chris Carr, CB Eric King, T Daniel Loper
Signed – WR Nate Washington, DT Jovan Haye, CB DeMarcus Faggins (cut), WR Mark Jones (high bubble, cut 9/5, re-signed 9/29), QB Patrick Ramsey (low bubble, cut 10/3)

WASHINGTON
Lost – DE Demetric Evans, DT Ryan Boschetti (NQ, cut)
Signed – DT Albert Haynesworth, DE Renaldo Wynn (low bubble, cut 10/10, re-signed 10/12, cut 10/17, resigned 10/19), P Hunter Smith (low bubble)



The curious case of Laveranues Coles

Someone recently asked me whether Laveranues Coles might not be eligible for the compensatory picks equation because he was "cut" by the Jets. Coles was not released by the Jets, although some media reports said he was. The Jets actually renegotiated his contract to make his 2009 season voidable, so his contract voided, and he became a true Unrestricted Free Agent.

Plenty of players have qualified for the comp equation after becoming UFAs because their contract voided, even if the voidable year was put in the contract through renegotiation. However, Coles' situation is a little less clear because of the timing involved. Coles' renegotiation was signed on Feb. 25, and his contract voided on Feb. 27. Normally, a player "earns" a void in his contract by doing something more than simply waiting two days, so it's possible that the NFL will not consider Coles eligible for the comp picks equation. Players who have had contract years simply deleted -- not converted to voidable years -- by renegotiation have never qualified for the equation, and Coles' situation is close to that. However, because a voidable year has never disqualified a player from the equation, I'm currently projecting that Coles will be eligible.

While researching Coles' case, I discovered that Andra Davis had his 2009 and 2010 seasons deleted by renegotiation, so he no longer appears on this list. Because Davis' current team (Denver) and his former team (Cleveland) both signed more players than they lost, he likely wouldn't have affected the comp picks anyway.

As always, corrections and questions are welcomed.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

A quick update

ESPN.com's Mike Sando mentioned this blog again in his June 7 post about the 2010 comp picks, and he provided a helpful piece of information, as well. Sando said he can confirm that, as expected, no teams extended June 1 tenders to any of their remaining Unrestricted Free Agents. As I explained in my most recent post on this blog, that means any additional UFA signings this year won't be included in the equation for the 2010 comp picks.

Sando also asked for my analysis of the Seahawks' outlook for 2010 comp picks. That's a pretty easy one, so I'll oblige. The Seahawks signed four UFAs and lost seven UFAs by June 1. One player they signed (Bryan Pittman) and two players they lost (Will Heller and Howard Green) did not sign for enough money to qualify. That leaves three signed and five lost who might qualify. Of those, one player they signed (John Owens) and one player they lost (Floyd Womack) are on the bubble for qualifying. I labeled both of them as "high bubble" players in my previous post, meaning that their average contract values rank near the upper end of the players on the bubble. The Seahawks also signed T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Colin Cole, and they lost Rocky Bernard, Maurice Morris, Leonard Weaver and Bobby Engram. As long as none of them get released before a certain point in time (seemingly Week 10 of the regular season), all six of those players should qualify for the comp equation. Whether Owens and Womack qualify might depend on their playing time, although they also might qualify even if they never play a single snap.

Unless Seattle releases and thereby disqualifies Houshmandzadeh and/or Cole, the Seahawks once again won't get a comp pick higher than the seventh round. (They got three seventh-round comp picks this year.) Houshmandzadeh and Cole both signed for more money per season than anyone the Seahawks lost, and they would cancel out the losses of the two highest-valued players the Seahawks lost, Bernard and Morris. The other players Seattle lost, Weaver, Engram and Womack (if he qualifies), would be worth seventh-round comp picks at best, based on their average contract values.

If none of the players involved are released, the Seahawks could receive one, two or three seventh-round comp picks, depending on whether Owens and Womack qualify. If they both qualify, or of neither qualifies, the Seahawks would get two comp picks. If Owens qualifies and Womack does not, Seattle would get one comp pick. And if Womack qualifies but Owens does not, the Seahawks could get three comp picks.

There are two other details that I should mention. The first is that if Owens does qualify, even if just barely, he would cancel out the loss of the Seahawks' highest-valued seventh-round comp player, which almost certainly will be Weaver. That would leave Seattle with a comp pick for Engram and possibly one for Womack, if he qualifies. It's a small detail, but it would mean that the Seahawks' first seventh-round comp pick would be a little lower than it would be if Owens did not qualify. The second detail is that if Womack does qualify and Owens does not, even though the Seahawks' equation would say they should get a comp pick for Womack, it's possible that the maximum of 32 comp picks could be reached before the pick for Womack is awarded. In that case, Seattle would not get a comp pick for him. There's only a slim chance of that happening, but it does need to be mentioned.

As I said, the Seahawks' situation is an easy one to analyze, but that doesn't mean we already know exactly what they'll be getting when the NFL hands out comp picks next year. There still are far too many factors involved in the equation that could change between now and the end of the regular season.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Qualifying free agents for the 2010 comp picks

The NFL free agency period doesn’t end until July 22, but in regard to the equation for 2010 compensatory picks, the signing deadline essentially passed on June 1. My research indicates that any free agent signed after June 1 will not qualify for the comp picks equation unless his former team gave him a “June 1 tender” – basically an offer of a 10 percent raise (see Article XIX, Section 1, Subsection (b)(i) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the details of June 1 tender requirements). Because most players worthy of a 10 percent raise are signed in the early stages of free agency, very few (if any) players receive a June 1 tender. Because June 1 tenders for Unrestricted Free Agents don’t count against the salary cap, it’s not known at this time whether any remaining UFAs received a June 1 tender.

Not all UFAs who signed by June 1 will count in the equation for comp picks. Some player will be disqualified by being released by their new team before or during training camp, during the preseason or early in the regular season. Other players didn’t sign for enough money to qualify, no matter what they do.

Below is a preliminary list of all of the UFAs – true UFAs, not players who had been released by their former team – who were lost or signed by each team by June 1. Each group is listed by average contract value per season (counting only the money included in the comp formula), from highest to lowest. I’ve labeled any player with a contract value of $670,000 per season or less as NQ, for non-qualifier. I’ve labeled any player with a contract value between $765,000 and $895,000 per season as a “low bubble” player, meaning that there might be a chance of that player qualifying, depending on his playing time and any “postseason honors.” (No player signed a contract valued at more than $670,000 per season but less than $765,000 per season.) Any player who signed a contract valued between $900,000 and $975,000 per season is listed as a “high bubble” player, meaning that the player might not qualify if he doesn’t play enough this season.


ARIZONA
Lost –
DE Antonio Smith, CB Eric Green, RB Terrelle Smith, LB Monty Beisel (low bubble), RB J.J. Arrington (cut)
Signed – CB Bryant McFadden, RB Jason Wright (high bubble)

ATLANTA
Lost –
CB Dominique Foxworth, LB Michael Boley, LB Keith Brooking, DT Grady Jackson
Signed – LB Mike Peterson, C Brett Romberg (high bubble)

BALTIMORE
Lost –
LB Bart Scott, C Jason Brown, S Jim Leonhard, QB Kyle Boller, CB Corey Ivy (low bubble), FB Lorenzo Neal (low bubble), WR Terrance Copper (NQ)
Signed – CB Dominique Foxworth, C Matt Birk, CB Chris Carr, TE L.J. Smith

BUFFALO
Lost –
CB Jabari Greer, LB Angelo Crowell, C Duke Preston (high bubble)
Signed – C Geoff Hangartner, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, RB Dominic Rhodes, G Seth McKinney (NQ), LB Patrick Thomas (NQ), DE Tony Hargrove (NQ)

CAROLINA
Lost –
C Geoff Hangartner, T Frank Omiyale, WR Mark Jones (high bubble), LB Adam Seward (NQ)
Signed – none

CHICAGO
Lost –
T John St. Clair, S Brandon McGowan (low bubble)
Signed – T Frank Omiyale, S Josh Bullocks

CINCINNATI
Lost –
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, T Stacy Andrews, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, G Eric Ghiaciuc (NQ)
Signed – WR Laveranues Coles, QB J.T. O’Sullivan, DT Tank Johnson (NQ)

CLEVELAND
Lost –
S Sean Jones, LB Andra Davis, RB Jason Wright (high bubble), G Scott Young (cut), TE Darnell Dinkins (low bubble), G Seth McKinney (NQ), CB Travis Daniels (NQ)
Signed – LB Eric Barton, T John St. Clair, DE C.J. Mosley, T Floyd Womack (high bubble), CB Corey Ivy (low bubble), CB Hank Poteat (low bubble)

DALLAS
Lost –
DE Chris Canty, LB Kevin Burnett, LB Zach Thomas, G Joe Berger (high bubble), DT Tank Johnson (NQ), S Keith Davis (NQ)
Signed – DT Igor Olshansky, LB Keith Brooking, S Gerald Sensabaugh

DENVER
Lost –
CB Karl Paymah, QB Patrick Ramsey (low bubble)
Signed – CB Andre Goodman, S Brian Dawkins, QB Chris Simms, CB Renaldo Hill, WR Jabar Gaffney, NT Ronald Fields, DT Darrell Reid, RB Correll Buckhalter, LB Andra Davis, LS Lonie Paxton, RB LaMont Jordan, T Brandon Gorin (NQ), RB J.J. Arrington (cut), G Scott Young (cut)

DETROIT
Lost –
NT Shaun Cody, QB Dan Orlovsky, RB Moran Norris, TE John Owens (high bubble), LB Paris Lenon (low bubble), WR Shaun McDonald (NQ)
Signed – CB Phillip Buchanon, WR Bryant Johnson, DT Grady Jackson, CB Eric King, RB Maurice Morris, T Daniel Loper, RB Terrelle Smith, LB Cody Spencer (NQ), TE Will Heller (NQ)

GREEN BAY
Lost –
DT Colin Cole
Signed – C Duke Preston (high bubble)

HOUSTON
Lost –
S C.C. Brown, CB DeMarcus Faggins, LS Bryan Pittman (NQ)
Signed – DE Antonio Smith, QB Dan Orlovsky, NT Shaun Cody, OL Adrian Jones (NQ)

INDIANAPOLIS
Lost –
DT Darrell Reid, RB Dominic Rhodes, P Hunter Smith (low bubble), CB Keiwan Ratliff (NQ)
Signed – LB Adam Seward (NQ)

JACKSONVILLE
Lost –
LB Mike Peterson, S Gerald Sensabaugh, T Khalif Barnes, S Pierson Prioleau (low bubble)
Signed – T Tra Thomas, S Sean Considine

KANSAS CITY
Lost –
LB Patrick Thomas (NQ), OL Adrian Jones (NQ)
Signed – LB Zach Thomas, G Mike Goff, WR Bobby Engram, LB Monty Beisel (low bubble), WR Terrance Copper (NQ), G Eric Ghiaciuc (NQ), CB Travis Daniels (NQ), TE Sean Ryan (NQ)

MIAMI
Lost –
CB Andre Goodman, CB Renaldo Hill, C Al Johnson (high bubble)
Signed – C Jake Grove, CB Eric Green, G Joe Berger (high bubble)

MINNESOTA
Lost –
C Matt Birk, S Darren Sharper, T Marcus Johnson (NQ)
Signed – CB Karl Paymah

NEW ENGLAND
Lost –
WR Jabar Gaffney, FB Heath Evans, LS Lonie Paxton, RB LaMont Jordan, LB Larry Izzo (low bubble)
Signed – C Al Johnson (high bubble), LB Paris Lenon (low bubble), S Brandon McGowan (low bubble), DT Damane Duckett (cut)

NEW ORLEANS
Lost –
S Josh Bullocks
Signed – CB Jabari Greer, S Darren Sharper, FB Heath Evans, TE Darnell Dinkins (low bubble), S Pierson Prioleau (low bubble), C Nick Leckey (NQ), DE Tony Hargrove (NQ)

NEW YORK GIANTS
Lost –
RB Derrick Ward, S James Butler, DE Renaldo Wynn (low bubble)
Signed – DE Chris Canty, LB Michael Boley, DT Rocky Bernard, S C.C. Brown

NEW YORK JETS
Lost –
WR Laveranues Coles, LB Eric Barton, DE C.J. Mosley, K Mike Nugent, CB Hank Poteat (low bubble), LB Cody Spencer (NQ)
Signed – LB Bart Scott, S Jim Leonhard, CB Donald Strickland, LB Larry Izzo (low bubble), DT Howard Green (NQ)

OAKLAND
Lost –
C Jake Grove, S Rashad Baker (high bubble)
Signed – T Khalif Barnes, QB Jeff Garcia, FB Lorenzo Neal (low bubble), T Marcus Johnson (NQ), DT Ryan Boschetti (NQ), S Keith Davis (NQ)

PHILADELPHIA
Lost –
S Brian Dawkins, T Tra Thomas, RB Correll Buckhalter, TE L.J. Smith, S Sean Considine
Signed – T Stacy Andrews, S Sean Jones, RB Leonard Weaver, S Rashad Baker (high bubble)

PITTSBURGH
Lost –
CB Bryant McFadden, WR Nate Washington, QB Byron Leftwich, T Marvel Smith
Signed – WR Shaun McDonald (NQ), CB Keiwan Ratliff (NQ)

SAN DIEGO
Lost –
DT Igor Olshansky, G Mike Goff, LB Marques Harris (NQ)
Signed – LB Kevin Burnett

SAN FRANCISCO
Lost –
WR Bryant Johnson, NT Ronald Fields, QB J.T. O’Sullivan, CB Donald Strickland, TE Billy Bajema (low bubble), TE Sean Ryan (NQ), DT Damane Duckett (cut)
Signed – WR Brandon Jones, RB Moran Norris, DE Demetric Evans, T Marvel Smith, LB Marques Harris (NQ)

SEATTLE
Lost –
DT Rocky Bernard, RB Maurice Morris, RB Leonard Weaver, WR Bobby Engram, T Floyd Womack (high bubble), TE Will Heller (NQ), DT Howard Green (NQ)
Signed – WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, DT Colin Cole, TE John Owens (high bubble), LS Bryan Pittman (NQ)

ST. LOUIS
Lost –
C Brett Romberg (high bubble), C Nick Leckey (NQ), T Brandon Gorin (NQ)
Signed – C Jason Brown, S James Butler, QB Kyle Boller, TE Billy Bajema (low bubble)

TAMPA BAY
Lost –
CB Phillip Buchanon, DT Jovan Haye, QB Jeff Garcia
Signed – RB Derrick Ward, LB Angelo Crowell, K Mike Nugent, QB Byron Leftwich

TENNESSEE
Lost –
DT Albert Haynesworth, WR Brandon Jones, QB Chris Simms, CB Chris Carr, CB Eric King, T Daniel Loper
Signed – WR Nate Washington, DT Jovan Haye, CB DeMarcus Faggins, WR Mark Jones (high bubble), QB Patrick Ramsey (low bubble)

WASHINGTON
Lost –
DE Demetric Evans, DT Ryan Boschetti (NQ)
Signed – DT Albert Haynesworth, DE Renaldo Wynn (low bubble), P Hunter Smith (low bubble)


It’s still far too early to determine which teams will get comp picks in which rounds, because any team’s situation could change if a qualifying player is released, traded, benched, injured, etc. But the list above provides a starting point for determining which teams are more likely to receive comp picks. Pittsburgh, for example, with four players lost who could qualify and no players signed who are likely to qualify, stands to receive up to four comp picks in 2010. On the other hand, teams such as Denver, St. Louis, New Orleans, Kansas City and Washington aren’t likely to receive any comp picks.



Remaining UFAs

Below is a list of the remaining UFAs. If any of them received a June 1 tender, they would be included in the formula if they sign with a new team by July 22.


Arizona – Scott Peters, Jerame Tuman, Wayne Gandy

Atlanta – Lawyer Milloy, Marcus Pollard

Baltimore – Lorenzo Neal, Chad Slaughter, Matt Stover, Daniel Wilcox

Buffalo – Melvin Fowler, Teddy Lehman, J.P. Losman, Jason Whittle

Carolina – Donte Curry, Jason Kyle, Darwin Walker

Chicago – Mike Brown, Rex Grossman
Chicago – Brandon Lloyd, Darrell McClover, Fred Miller, Cameron Worrell

Cincinnati – Jamar Fletcher, John Thornton

Cleveland – Lennie Friedman, Kris Griffin, Daven Holly, Willie McGinest, Shantee Orr

Dallas – Brooks Bollinger, Carlos Polk

Denver – Tatum Bell, Ebenezer Ekuban, Darrell Jackson, Marlon McCree, Tom Nalen, Michael Pittman, Edell Shepherd, Nate Webster

Detroit – Rudi Johnson, Andy McCollum, Langston Moore, Ryan Nece, Corey Smith, Stanley Wilson

Green Bay – Mark Tauscher

Houston – Mark Bruener, Scott Jackson, Cecil Sapp, Jimmy Williams, Jeff Zgonina

Indianapolis – Josh Thomas

Jacksonville – Chris Naeole, Reggie Williams

Kansas City – Jason Babin, Rocky Boiman, Oliver Celestin

Miami – Tab Perry, Derek Smith

Minnesota – Kenderick Allen, Michael Boulware, Napoleon Harris, Dontarrious Thomas, Ellis Wyms

N.Y. Giants – John Carney, Jerome McDougle, R.W. McQuarters, Grey Ruegamer, Rich Scanlon, Amani Toomer, Anthony Wright

N.Y. Jets – Jesse Chatman, Ty Law, J.R. Reed

New England – Rosevelt Colvin, Rodney Harrison, Deltha O’Neal, Lewis Sanders, Junior Seau, Barry Stokes

New Orleans – Mark Campbell, Aaron Glenn, Martin Gramatica, Terrence Holt, Antwan Lake, Michael Lehan, Matt Lehr, James Reed, Aaron Stecker

Oakland – Drew Carter, Ashley Lelie, Marques Tuiasosopo

Philadelphia – Jon Runyan

Pittsburgh – Mitch Berger, Orpheus Roye

San Diego – Jeremy Newberry

San Francisco – DeShaun Foster, Roderick Green, Jamie Martin

Seattle – Charlie Frye, Chris Gray, Wesly Mallard, Steve McKinney, Jeff Robinson, Koren Robinson

St. Louis – Fakhir Brown, Jason Craft, Anthony Davis, La’Roi Glover, Dante Hall, Dane Looker, Ricky Manning, Travis Minor, Rob Petitti, Gary Stills, Cory Withrow

Tampa Bay – Kevin Carter, Patrick Chukwurah

Tennessee – Reynaldo Hill, Justin McCareins, Tyrone Poole

Washington – Khary Campbell, Jason Fabini, Mike Green, Pete Kendall



In an upcoming post (or posts), I’ll take a look at the situation for some teams in regard to the 2010 comp picks. As always, any comments, questions or corrections are welcome.


(EDIT: Updated to include Adrian Jones, Tony Hargrove and Lorenzo Neal signings.)

Monday, May 11, 2009

Matthew Stafford's contract

No. 1 draft pick Matthew Stafford's contract with the Detroit Lions is an example of how the value of a contract often gets exaggerated when reported by the media. Stafford's contract has been reported as being for six years and $72 million, with $41.7 million guaranteed and an additional $6 million in incentives that could push the total value to $78 million. Those numbers could be correct -- if Stafford plays a certain percentage of the Lions' offensive snaps. However, if Stafford doesn't achieve certain qualifying incentives in his contract, he'll never receive close to that $41.7 million he's supposedly "guaranteed."

The only parts of Stafford's contract that he's fully guaranteed to receive right now are most of his base salaries and the protected value of his option bonus. He did not receive a signing bonus, which isn't unusual for a high draft pick. In 2008, none of the first seven players drafted got a signing bonus. Stafford's base salaries are $3.1 million for 2009, $395,000 for 2010, $1.17 million for 2011, $1.95 million for 2012 and $2.7 million for 2013. In 2010, the Lions will have to decide whether to exercise an option for 2014 by paying Stafford a $17.4 million option bonus. If they exercise the option, the bonus gets prorated from 2010 to 2014, and Stafford gets a base salary of $3.495 million for 2014.

Here are Stafford's salary cap numbers if the Lions exercise the option and Stafford does not achieve any playing-time or performance incentives --

2009 $3.1 million
2010 $3.875 million ($395,000 base salary plus $3.48 million option bonus proration)
2011 $4.65 million ($1.17 million base salary plus $3.48 million option bonus proration)
2012 $5.425 million ($1.945 million base salary plus $3.48 million option bonus proration)
2013 $6.2 million ($2.72 million base salary plus $3.48 million option bonus proration)
2014 $6.975 million ($3.495 million base salary plus $3.48 million option bonus proration)


Those are the basic elements of Stafford's contract, and they illustrate the 25 Percent Rule, which applies to rookies' contracts. The 25 Percent Rule essentially says that certain amounts in a rookie's contract can't increase each year by more than 25 percent of the first-year total of those amounts. Signing bonus prorations and most other amounts treated as signing bonuses aren't included in the calculation of the 25 Percent Rule, but option bonus prorations are included. The only first-year money Stafford gets is his base salary of $3.1 million, 25 percent of which comes to $775,000. So the applicable amounts in his contract -- in his case, those are his base salaries and option bonus prorations -- can't increase by more than $775,000 each year. And not coincidentally, that's exactly how much they increase each year.

The amounts listed in the chart represent the minimum he is scheduled to earn if he's on the Lions' roster through the 2014 season. The total of those amounts is $30.21 million. Not only is that not anywhere close to $41.7 million, Stafford isn't even guaranteed to receive all of that $30.21 million. The actual amount he's absolutely guaranteed to receive under any circumstances is a mere $17.05 million.

Let's take a look at what happens if the Lions decide very early in Stafford's career that they made an egregious mistake, and Stafford is closer to being the next Bobby Garrett than he is to being the next Bobby Layne. Suppose Stafford plays less than 35 percent of the Lions' offensive snaps during the 2009 regular season, and the team decides not to exercise the option in his contract for 2014. Stafford's option bonus is mostly protected, which means that if it's not exercised, a clause in his contract automatically kicks in and assures that he'll get most of the money anyway. If the option isn't exercised, Stafford's base salaries automatically increase to $3.875 million in 2010, $4.65 million in 2011, $5.425 million in 2012 and $6.2 million in 2013, and he becomes a free agent in 2014. You'll notice that those amounts are the same as his cap numbers if the option is exercised, and the total amount is the same. However, there's a catch to that $6.2 million in 2013.

In an NFL contract, base salaries can be guaranteed "for skill" and "for injury" and against cap considerations. A fully guaranteed salary protects a player in all three scenarios. If he can no longer play effectively, suffers a career-ending injury or simply has too high of a cap number, he'll still receive his salary if it's fully guaranteed. And Stafford's base salaries are fully guaranteed through 2012. His 2013 base salary, however, is not fully guaranteed, because of a rule in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that deals with guaranteed salaries. Article XXIV, Section 7, (d)(ii) of the CBA says, "In a Player Contract entered into in a Capped Year, 50% of the Salary fully guaranteed for any League Year beyond three years after the Final Capped Year will be included in Salary and Team Salary during the League Year or Years of the Contract in which the Salary Cap is in effect in a proportion to be determined by the Team." The "Final Capped Year" currently is 2009, which means that half of any salary fully guaranteed beyond 2012 would be charged against the Lions' salary cap in 2009. As a result, Stafford's 2013 base salary (and 2014, if his option is exercised) is not fully guaranteed. It's guaranteed against cap considerations and "for injury," but it's not guaranteed "for skill." So if the Lions decide Stafford simply doesn't have the skill to play for them, they can cut him without paying his salary for 2013. If that happens, and if Stafford never acheives any playing-time or performance incentives, the Lions will have paid him only $17.05 million.

So, why has Stafford's contract been reported as having $41.7 million in guaranteed money? Most likely, it's because Stafford's agent, Tom Condon, wants everyone to think that he got his client that much guaranteed money. In reality, though, that's not the amount that Stafford is guaranteed to receive -- it's the amount that he COULD BE guaranteed to receive, if he achieves certain qualifiers and the Lions exercise his option. If Stafford achieves his qualifiers in 2009, there's a $9.105 million roster bonus in 2010, an additional $7.83 million in fully guaranteed salary for 2011 and an additional $755,000 in fully guaranteed salary for 2012. Along with the $17.4 million option bonus and his standard base salaries for 2009 through 2012, the total comes to $41.7 million, the figure cited by the media. But $24.65 million of that "guaranteed" money is dependent upon Stafford meeting his qualifiers. (The contract also includes built-in ways for Stafford to receive most or all of that money even if it takes him until 2010, 2011 or 2012 to achieve his qualifiers.)

The rest of Stafford's $72 million consists of a potential $7.8 million salary escalator in 2012 and escalated salaries of $11.5 million in 2013 and $11 million in 2014. But again, the only way for him to have those salaries is by reaching his qualifiers in certain seasons. And if those aren't enough, he has additional escalators of up to $1.5 million in certain seasons that could push his total contract value to its maximum of $78 million.

On a related note, I hate to correct ESPN.com's NFC North blogger, Kevin Seifert, considering that he has cited my blog three times. But in his May 8 entry about Stafford's contract, he mistakenly says that the use of the option bonus is "exact strategy" I wrote about in this post that I made on March 21 about a loophole around the 30 Percent Rule (and possibly the 25 Percent Rule for rookies). But it's not the same strategy. Option bonuses aren't a loophole around the rules, because the CBA specifically states that option bonuses count in the calculations for either rule. The loophole involves completion bonuses, which can be guaranteed but do not count in the calculations for the 30 Percent Rule.

Friday, May 1, 2009

A review of the 2009 NFL draft trades

Three weeks ago, I posted a list of almost every trade from 1992 to 2008 that involved NFL draft picks but not active players. Using that list and a mathematical formula, a fan who posts as Mr. Bighead on the KFFL message boards created a draft pick value chart that indicates the historical value of each draft pick. The value of the No. 1 pick was fixed at 3,000 points, the same value it has in the commonly used value chart. Not surprisingly, though, the chart based on actual trades from 1992 to 2008 is much different from the commonly used chart. In general, higher picks are worth more in the historical chart than in the commonly used chart, and the higher the pick, the greater the difference between the charts.

I tested the historical value chart against certain benchmark trades in the list of trades that I posted, and I found that the chart is quite accurate, at least through five rounds or so. Late in the draft, teams are less likely to have picks that will balance out a trade, so they generally just make two-for-one trades out of the picks they have left and don't worry as much about point values.

In this post, I'll take a look at the trades made during the 2009 NFL draft and see whether teams that traded down got more value or less value than expected, based on trades made from 1992 to 2008.

Here are all of this year's trades that involved only draft picks --


2009 DRAFT

17 = 19, 191
19 = 21, 195
23 = 26, 162
26, 162 = 41, 73, 83
37 = next 1st
40 = 47, 124, 199
43, 111 = next 1st
49 = 68, 105
51 = 75, 110
56 = 61, 165
64, 132 = 79, 84
65 = 76, 115, 228
73 = 232, next 2nd
85 = 91, 164
89 = next 2nd
91 = 137, 213, next 3rd
117 = 120, 229
123, 198 = 137, 141
141 = 156, 210
150 = 158, 221
164 = 222, next 5th
174 = 235, next 5th
202 = 216, next 6th
222 = next 6th
237 = next 7th



Now let's take a look at each trade and the historical values of the picks involved --


17 = 19, 191

The historical value of the 17th pick is 1,419 points. The 19th is worth 1,319, and the 191st is worth 16, for a total of 1,335. Cleveland took 84 points less than the expected value to trade down with Tampa Bay (roughly the value of the 118th or 119th pick).


19 = 21, 195

Again, Cleveland took less than the expected value to trade down, this time with Philadelphia. The 19th pick has a historical value of 1,319 points, the 21st pick is worth 1,229, and the 19th is worth 15, for a total of 1,244 points. Based on those values, Cleveland got 75 fewer points than expected.


23 = 26, 162

This time, it was New England that took less value than expected when it traded down to Baltimore's spot. The 23rd pick's historical value is 1,147 points, compared to a combined 1,068 points for the picks it received (1,037 for the 26th and 31 for the 162nd).


26, 162 = 41, 73, 83

New England traded down again, this time getting higher-than-expected value from Green Bay. For two picks with a combined value of 1,068 points, New England got three picks with a combined value of 1,111 points (646, 263 and 202, respectively).


40 = 47, 124, 199

Oakland traded down with New England, getting a little less value than expected (665 points, compared to 540, 74 and 14 for a total of 628).


49 = 68, 105

This was another trade down for less than expected, with Chicago sending one pick with a historical value of 510 points to Seattle for two picks worth 416 (300 and 116, respectively).


51 = 75, 110

In 2001, Buffalo had the 51st pick and traded down with Denver, dropping seven spots to No. 58 and adding the 110th pick. This year, Dallas had the same original pick (No. 51) but had to drop 24 spots to get the same additional pick (No. 110). Historically, this was 481 points for 352 points (249 plus 103).


56 = 61, 165

Miami traded down with Indianapolis and got less-than-expected value, but not by much. The 56th pick has a historical value of 418 points, compared to 392 for the 61st (363) and 165th (29).


64, 132 = 79, 84

Pittsburgh got slightly better than the expected value for trading down with Denver. Pittsburgh gave up a combined 396 points (335 plus 61) and received 421 (224 plus 197).


65 = 76, 115, 228

Detroit traded the first pick of the draft's second day to the New York Jets for higher-than-expected value. The 65th pick has a historical value of 326 points, compared to a combined 341 for the three picks the Jets sent to Detroit (243, 91 and 7, respectively).


85 = 91, 164

The trade was about as equal as can be, considering that teams usually don't have two picks that add up to the precise value of the one pick for which they want to trade. In this case, Philadelphia traded No. 85, which is valued at 192 points, to the New York Giants for Nos. 91 (165) and 164 (30), which are worth a combined 195 points.


117 = 120, 229

This was another relatively equal trade, with Dallas trading 87 points to Tampa Bay for 88 points (81 plus 7).


123, 198 = 137, 141

Baltimore traded down with New England, getting 15 points more than expected. The 123rd pick is worth 75 and the 198th is worth 14 (89 total), compared to 54 points and 50 points (104 total) for the picks Baltimore received.


141 = 156, 210

Baltimore traded down again, this time getting relatively equal value from Denver. The 141st pick is worth 50 points, compared to a combined 46 points for the 156th (35) and 210th (11) picks.


150 = 158, 221

In another trade for almost equal values, Washington sent 40 points to Minnesota for a combined 43 points (34 plus 9).


37 = next 1st
43, 111 = next 1st

Based on trades from 1992 to 2008, a first-round pick in the next draft is worth 635 points, on average (equal to the value of the 41st or 42nd pick in the current draft). Seattle gave Denver a pick (No. 37) worth 729 points, and San Francisco gave Carolina two picks worth a combined 709 (608 plus 101). Both times, this year's picks yielded less value than expected.


73 = 232, next 2nd
89 = next 2nd

On average, a second-round pick in the next draft is worth 223 points (approximately the 79th pick). New England made both of these trades, getting less than expected from Jacksonville in the first trade (263 points for 223 plus 7) but more than expected from Tennessee in the second trade (178 for 223).


91 = 137, 213, next 3rd

A third-round pick in the next draft has an average value of 91 points, which is equal to the 115th pick. Philadelphia traded down with Seattle, giving up 165 points and getting back 155 (54 plus 10 plus 91) for a relatively equal trade.


164 = 222, next 5th
174 = 235, next 5th

Both of these were relatively equal trades. A fifth-round pick in the next draft is worth an average of 19 points, which is the value of picks No. 183-185. Philadelphia had the 164th pick (30 points) and traded down with New Orleans, getting 27 points in return (8 plus 19). Detroit traded down from No. 174 (24 points), getting 25 points (6 plus 19) back from Denver.


202 = 216, next 6th
222 = next 6th

Historically, a sixth-round pick in the next draft has had an average value of eight points, which is the value of picks Nos. 222-227. Philadelphia traded No. 222 to Indianapolis in a trade for equal values. Carolina got a little more than expected by trading No. 202 to Oakland, giving up a pick worth 13 points and getting 18 points in return (10 plus eight).


237 = next 7th

This was the first known draft-day trade since at least 1992 that involved a seventh-round pick in the following draft and did not involve an active player. Miami sent Kansas City the fifth-to-last pick that could be traded (compensatory picks can't be traded) in exchange for a seventh-round pick next year. Unless Kansas City surprises almost everyone, Miami at least will get a higher seventh-round pick next year than it gave up this year.


2009 draft trends

Here's a look at all 25 trades, with the historical point values traded by each team. The points traded by the team trading down are on the left side, the points dealt by the team trading up are on the right. A > symbol indicates that the team trading down lost value, a < symbol indicates that the team trading down gained value, a ~ symbol indicates that the trade was relatively equal, and a = symbol indicates a trade that was exactly equal.

1,419 > 1,335
1,319 > 1,244
1,147 > 1,068
1,068 < 1,111
729 > 635
709 > 635
665 > 628
510 > 416
481 > 352
418 > 392 (Trade down from pick No. 56)

396 < 421 (Trade down from pick No. 64)
326 < 341
263 > 230
192 ~ 195
178 < 223 (Trade down from pick No. 89)

165 ~ 155 (Trade down from pick No. 91)
87 ~ 88
89 < 104
50 ~ 46
40 ~ 43
30 ~ 27
24 ~ 25
13 < 18
8 = 8
6 > (next 7th)

From this chart, it's apparent that teams didn't value picks in the first two rounds nearly as much as usual. Nine of the first 10 trades down went for less than the historical value of the pick(s) involved. Through 10 trades, the average value lost was 7.7 percent. Starting with the last pick of the second round, picks started trading for higher or equal value than on average from 1992 to 2008. Of the final 15 trades, the team trading down got higher-than-normal value in return five times and equal or relatively equal value eight times. Only twice did a trade down yield less than would be expected. The average value gained in the final 15 trades, starting with the last pick of the second round, was 5.9 percent. These numbers confirm the reports that many teams believed that the 2009 draft was weak at the top but deep in talent.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The rookie pool and the salary cap

A lot of people, including many in the media, have a misunderstanding of how the salary cap and rookie pools are intertwined, beyond the misnomer of "a cap within a cap." This post is an attempt to explain exactly how the rookie pool works and how it relates to the cap.

First, a couple of definitions:

Rule of 51: This is the commonly used name for the rule explained in Article XXIV, Section 7, subsection (a)(i) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The rule states, "between March 1 and the first day of the regular playing season, only the following amounts from Paragraph 5 shall be included for players whose Player Contracts are not among the Team’s 51 highest valued Player Contracts, tenders and Offer Sheets (as determined under this Section 7): (1) Any amount that exceeds the Minimum Active/Inactive List Salary for Undrafted Rookie Free Agents; and (2) Any amount that exceeds twice the applicable Minimum Active/Inactive List Salary for all other players."

In simple terms, it means that during the offseason, for any player whose cap number is not among his team's 51 highest cap numbers, his base salary ("Paragraph 5" salary) does not count against the cap. The two exceptions listed above ("any amount that exceeds ...") are not known to have ever come into play, because teams traditionally give undrafted rookies minimum base salaries, and it would be extremely unlikely for a team to have a player outside its Top 51 with a base salary more than twice his applicable minimum.

As an example of how the Rule of 51 works, consider a team whose 51st-highest cap number for current players (contracts, tenders or offer sheets) is $400,000. The team's next-highest cap number is $397,280, which is for a second-year player with a base salary of $385,000, a signing bonus proration of $5,000 and a standard workout bonus of $7,280. Because this player is outside the hypothetical team's Top 51, his minimum base salary does not count against the cap, but the other $12,280 does. The same thing would apply to the rest of the team's players outside its Top 51: their minimum base salaries would not count against the cap, but everything else would. (All "dead money" also counts against the cap.)

Rookie pool: On a league-wide basis, the rookie pool (described in Article XVII of the CBA) is the total amount of money that can be spent on rookies, except that the minimum base salaries for undrafted rookies do not count toward the rookie pool. Each team's rookie pool is its portion of the league-wide total and is determined by the number, round and position of the draft choices it uses.

Basically, the entire first-year cap numbers for all of a team's draft choices must fit into its rookie pool, along with any first-year cap charges for undrafted rookies other than their minimum base salaries.

After the draft, teams are told the amount of their rookie pool, but they never are told the rookie pool value for each draft pick. However, astute teams — presumably all of them — could estimate with reasonable precision the specific rookie pool value of each pick prior to the draft. When teams sign a drafted player, his first-year cap number does not have to be equal, or even close to, the rookie pool value of the pick used to select him, as long as the team's combined rookie pool charges for all of its rookies don't exceed its limit.


How it all works

Saying that the rookie pool is "a cap within a cap" is a bit of a misnomer because the rookie pool actually is a separate accounting from the salary cap, although rookies count toward both limits. The calculations are different, though, so the amount a rookie counts against the rookie pool isn't necessarily the same as the amount he counts against the salary cap.

When a player is drafted, he automatically is tendered a one-year contract for the rookie minimum base salary (for 2009, that is $310,000). This amount immediately is applied to the team's rookie pool and salary cap. Because most teams have at least 51 players with cap numbers higher than the rookie minimum salary before the draft, the automatic tenders for drafted players won't affect those teams' cap at all. It sometimes is mistakenly reported that teams must have cap room in order to use their draft choices, but that applies only to teams that have fewer than 51 players signed or tendered at the time of the draft. And even then, it applies only to the number of draft choices a team uses until it has 51 players signed or tendered. So, for example, if a team had 49 players signed or tendered before the draft, it would need only $620,000 of cap room in order to make all of its selections. After the first two draftees are automatically tendered, the team would have 51 players signed or tendered, and the rest of the team's draftees would fall outside its 51 highest cap numbers and would not affect its cap.

When a drafted player signs his contract, the team is charged against its salary cap according to the Rule of 51, and it is charged against its rookie pool according to the rules in Article XVII.

Let's consider a seventh-round draft pick who signs a four-year contract with minimum base salaries and a $44,000 signing bonus and who was selected by a team with its 51st-highest cap number being $400,000 (for a second-year player with a $385,000 base salary). His first-year cap number would be $321,000, consisting of his $310,000 base salary and his $11,000 bonus proration. Because he was drafted, the entire $321,000 would count against his team's rookie pool, replacing his automatic tender. But because he is below his team's top 51 cap numbers, only his $11,000 bonus proration counts against the salary cap during the offseason.

Now consider a third-round draft pick for the same team. He signs a four-year contract with minimum base salaries and a signing bonus of $700,000. His first-year cap number would be $485,000, consisting of his $310,000 base salary and his $175,000 bonus proration. All $485,000 would count against his team's rookie pool and against his team's salary cap. However, by assuming his place in the team's top 51 cap numbers, he knocks the player with a $400,000 cap number ($385,000 base salary) out of the team's top 51. For that player, his base salary no longer counts against the cap, leaving only the other $15,000 counting against the cap. The net result is that the team's cap room is reduced by only $100,000 — the draftee's $485,000 is charged against the cap, but the second-year player's $385,000 base salary no longer is.

As you can see, as long as his team already has at least 51 players signed or tendered — as all 32 teams did by April 15 — a draftee's effect on his team's salary cap is far less than his rookie pool charge. Most people forget this when they consider how much cap room must be "set aside" for rookies. You'll often see people say that, for example, if a team has $5 million of cap room and a rookie pool of $4 million, it has only $1 million available to spend on other players. Of course, if the team already has close to or more than 51 players signed or tendered, that's wrong, because that team's rookies will reduce its salary cap by far less than $4 million, as shown above.

As long as a team has at least 51 players already signed or tendered, it is impossible for its entire rookie class to reduce its cap room by more than its rookie pool minus the amount equal to the minimum rookie salary times the number of draftees signed. For example, if a team with a rookie pool of $5.1 million already has at least 51 players signed or tendered, then signs all 10 of its draftees and any number of undrafted rookies, it is impossible for the team's entire rookie class to reduce its cap room by more than $2 million. That's because the $310,000 base salary of every undrafted rookie and every draftee who doesn't make the team's top 51 won't count against the cap, and every draftee who does make the top 51 will knock another player's base salary of at least $310,000 out of the top 51.

To determine the maximum amount that a team's entire rookie class could reduce its cap room, it is necessary to know how many players it has signed or tendered, how many of its draftees are likely to have first-year cap numbers that qualify for its top 51 and the cap numbers and base salaries for as many players at the bottom of its top 51 as it has draftees who will qualify for the top 51.

If all of that is not known, a reasonable estimate for most teams this season can be made by starting with the team's rookie pool, then subtracting $385,000 for each draft pick in the first four rounds and $310,000 for each draft pick in the fifth, sixth or seventh rounds. For example, a team with a rookie pool of $4 million and one draft pick in each round will use approximately $1.53 million of cap room to sign all of its rookies ($4 million, minus the $1.54 million for the four players displaced in the team's top 51, minus $930,000 for the three late-round draftees whose base salaries won't count against the cap). Using this method might not be precise for every team, but it will give you a pretty good estimate.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

NFL draft pick trade history

How much does it take to trade up? What can a team get by trading down? Just check the draft pick value chart to find out, right? Well, maybe not. While the value chart might be a valuable reference tool, it's only a guide. In reality, picks are worth whatever teams decide they're worth. Teams might be willing to pay more to trade up for a player they really like or take less to trade down when they have multiple players they like and know they can get one with a lower pick.

Along with looking the value chart, another way of determining the value of picks is to look at previous trades involving those picks. After all, the true value of draft picks is determined by the teams themselves, not the chart. And given that 58 percent of the trades from 1992 to 2008 were simple two-for-one deals and that only 12 percent involved more than one pick going to each team, it's apparent that teams don't usually quibble over a few points on the value chart.

Below is a list of almost every trade from 1992 to 2008 that involved only draft picks (not players). I might be missing some trades from the 1992 draft, and I don't have the trades from the second day (Rounds 5-7) of the 1995 draft. And there might be some trades made prior to draft day that are missing, as well. But this should be every other trade since 1992. Picks in the following year's draft are referred to as "next 1st," "next 2nd," etc. And that is not a typo at the end of the list of 1997 trades. The Green Bay Packers really did give up the 193rd pick for the 213th pick -- straight up. They moved down 20 spots and got absolutely nothing in return. GM Ron Wolf said he "just wanted to make a trade."

With that said, here's the list --


1992 DRAFT

4 = 6, 28
17, 120 = 19, 104
13, 71 = 19, 37, 104
20 = 37, 64, 108
36, 121 = 52, 78, 163, 222, 329
40 = 47, 74
47, 74 = 56, 58
56 = 82, 109, 250


1993 DRAFT

11 = 14, 83
13 = 19, 75
18 = 20, 116
20 = 26, 81
29, 112 = 46, 54, 94, 213
33 = 36, 120
41 = 58, 81
41, 82, 110, 138 = 48, next 1st
44 = 49, 107
64 = 82, 104
65 = 73, 127
72 = 81, 152
92 = 100, 156
99 = 110, 138
112 = 119, 156


1994 DRAFT

5 = 7, 83
7 = 15, 56, 100
12 = 13, 144
16 = 20, 89
23, 217 = 28, 62
29 = 40, next 2nd
37 = 40, 118
52 = 55, 125
53 = 84, 149, 175, 190
65 = 89, 115, 121
80 = 94, 152
107 = 121, 135
120 = 126, 169


1995 DRAFT

1 = 5, 36
7, 72 = 12, 43, 63
10 = 30, 94, 119, next 1st
19 = 31, 97, 134, next 4th
22, 188 = 32, 63, 173
28 = 41, 63
29 = 34, 98, 100
33 = 40, 71
41 = 46, 110
51 = next 1st
70 = 82, 115
84 = 90, 160
111 = 121, 196
112 = next 3rd


1996 DRAFT

9 = 17, 48, 109
13 = 18, 83, 201
17 = 21, 91
30 = 37, 67
41 = next 1st
49 = 60, 99
55 = 65, 100, 213
57 = 76, 124, 149
60, 99 = 79, 98, 134, 150
76 = 86, 119, 195
97 = 112, 137
98, next 7th = 113, 125
99 = 110, 146
111 = 122, 159, 235
135 = 161, 162
157 = next 4th
192 = next 5th


1997 DRAFT

1 = 6, 67, 102, 207
3, 63 = 11, 41, 70, 100
6 = 8, 104
6 = 12, 63
13, 110 = 18, 91, 116, 181
22 = 25, 155, next 3rd
38 = 40, 173
54 = 65, 101
55 = 57, 190, 227
67 = 88, 191, 229, next 6th
71 = 84, 188
77 = 86, 156
107 = 116, 165
112 = 121, 170, 173
123 = 157, 166, 203
138 = 215, next 4th
140 = 180, 222
146, 218 = next 3rd
193 = 213


1998 DRAFT

19 = 29, 60
23 = 34, 59
41 = 56, 87, 149
43 = 1st in two years (2000)
45 = 53, 114
59 = 1st in two years (2000)
60 = 79, 143, 172
65 = 67, 195
70 = 85, 116
93 = 103, 124, 154
102 = 112, 142
104 = next 3rd
109 = 113, 191
137 = 199, 203, 215
138 = 162, 197
152 = 156, next 6th
200 = next 6th
215 = next 6th


1999 DRAFT

5 = 12, 71, 107, 144, 179, 218, next 1st, next 3rd
7 = 12, 71, 106, 143, next 3rd
17 = 20, 82, 191
20 = 22, 140
24 = 27, 134
27 = 39, 70, 142
37 = 40, 144
40, 102 = 47, 78, 111
42 = next 1st
43 = 54, 84, next 6th
44 = 59, 73, 163
46 = 52, 117
70 = 72, 232
96 = 99, 171
137 = next 4th
146, 163 = next 3rd
165 = 179, 218
170 = 187, 191
174 = 184, 207
182 = 195, 233
207 = 221, 253


2000 DRAFT

3 = 12, 24, 119, 154
10 = 15, 45
12 = 16, 48
51 = 57, 120
61 = 68, 135
86 = 119, 154
98 = 108, 132
111 = next 3rd
104 = 125, 150, 225
138 = 158, 195
150 = 170, 209
154 = 175, 231
209, 225 = 223, 232, 254
212 = next 6th
231 = next 6th
238 = next 6th


2001 DRAFT

7, 191 = 9, 82, 222
14 = 21, 51
22 = 30, 91, 193
37 = 52, 81
39 = 50, 112
48 = 50, 173
51 = 58, 110
52 = 56, 122
53 = 70, 81
61 = 78, 114
69 = 86, 119
88, 187 = next 2nd
96 = 112, 139
145 = 154, 186
149 = 180, 216
170 = next 5th
215, 219, 226 = next 4th


2002 DRAFT

6 = 8, 75, next 6th
14 = 15, 110
18 = 21, 89
17 = 18, 158
20, 156 = 28, 60
21 = 32, 96, 234
52, 96 = 56, 87
61 = 69, 102
63, 129 = 72, 104, 140
67 = 73, 145
79 = 89, 118
96 = 112, 155
116 = next 3rd
117 = 131, 144
122 = 147, 189
168 = 237, next 5th


2003 DRAFT

4 = 13, 22, 116
6, 37, 102 = 17, 18, 54
13 = 14, 193
15 = 30, 62
16 = 27, 92, 200
19 = 41, next 1st
36, 117 = 41, 75
45 = 50, 120
78 = next 2nd
79 = 94, 127
82 = 108, 120, 227
83, 262 = next 2nd
120 = 128, 157
138 = next 4th
143 = 176, 193, 218
147 = 165, 203
150, 200 = 153, 189
154, 225 = 164, 201, 243
166 = 185, 244
181 = 226, 247
245 = next 6th


2004 DRAFT

1 = 4, 65, next 1st, next 5th
6 = 7, 37
16 = 28, 58
19 = 20, 119
22 = 43, 144, next 1st
24 = 26, 123
27, 159 = 40, 71, 103, 138
28 = 31, 127
29, 90 = 38, 69, 125
30 = 36, 105, next 5th
38 = 44, 107
48 = 50, 151
55 = 70, 102
59, 161 = 68, 141, 173
72 = 86, 118
81, 151 = 139, next 2nd
82 = 88, 155
87 = 102, 153
104 = 112, 147
153 = 160, 222
156 = 182, 206
159 = 175, 210
174 = 186, 219
179 = 188, 226
182 = 205, 223


2005 DRAFT

13 = 16, next 3rd
23 = 26, 105
25 = 76, next 1st, next 4th
37 = 41, 113
45 = 54, 121
64 = 84, 195, next 3rd
89 = 115, 126
94 = 102, 175
112 = 120, 154
123 = 127, 185
126 = 167, 175, 245
132, next 6th = 148, next 4th
144 = 155, 231
145, 206 = next 4th
148 = next 4th
175 = 195, 246
175 = 230, next 5th


2006 DRAFT

11 = 15, 68
12 = 13, 181
22 = 37, 68
25 = 32, 96, 129
26 = 42, 73
35 = 53, 189, next 2nd
36 = 52, 75
37, 139 = 47, 93, 148
39 = 45, 116
44 = 56, 87
49 = 53, 189, 211
64 = 83, 95
71 = 76, 220
80 = 92, 125
93 = 109, 183
109 = 115, 185
138 = 150, 189
197 = 213, 236
238 = next 6th


2007 DRAFT

14 = 25, 59, 164
17 = 21, 86, 198
22 = 36, next 1st
26 = 36, 87, 159
28 = 110, next 1st
33 = 38, 105
34 = 43, 74
37 = 62, 93, 167, next 3rd
41 = 44, 121
42 = 126, next 1st
47, 235 = 63, 89, 191
53, 195 = 67, 103, 178
58 = 66, 145
61 = 74, 101
86 = 101, 166, 203
91 = 211, next 3rd
102 = 106, 182
107 = 123, 163
112 = 119, 192
117 = 139, 154
121 = 176, 233, next 3rd
149 = 194, 198, 203
195 = 200, 234


2008 DRAFT

7, 164 = 10, 78
8 = 26, 71, 89, 125
15, 76 = 17, 66, 136
18 = 26, 89, 173
19 = 43, 109, next 1st
21, 84, 154 = 34, 48, 103
25 = 28, 163, 235
30 = 36, 113
38 = 55, 86
43, 152 = 47, 117
52 = 58, 158, next 7th
64 = 66, 176
69 = 160, next 2nd
92 = 111, next 4th
103 = 124, 157
100 = 104, 213
102 = 113, 162
104 = 122, 155
110 = 115, 208
111 = next 3rd
115, 175 = 120, 158
123 = 130, 194
128 = 137, 217
137 = 150, 209
143 = 155, 213
144 = 146, 218
153 = 160, 238
157, 228 = 168, 180
191 = next 5th
237 = next 6th


Values for trading down

Here's the same list (minus the Packers' 1997 trade from 193 to 213) in order of the highest pick traded by the team that traded down --

1 = 4, 65, next 1st, next 5th
1 = 5, 36
1 = 6, 67, 102, 207
3 = 12, 24, 119, 154
3, 63 = 11, 41, 70, 100
4 = 13, 22, 116
4 = 6, 28
5 = 12, 71, 107, 144, 179, 218, next 1st, next 3rd
5 = 7, 83
6 = 12, 63
6 = 7, 37
6 = 8, 104
6 = 8, 75, next 6th
6, 37, 102 = 17, 18, 54
7 = 12, 71, 106, 143, next 3rd
7 = 15, 56, 100
7, 164 = 10, 78
7, 191 = 9, 82, 222
7, 72 = 12, 43, 63
8 = 26, 71, 89, 125
9 = 17, 48, 109
10 = 15, 45
10 = 30, 94, 119, next 1st
11 = 14, 83
11 = 15, 68
12 = 13, 144
12 = 13, 181
12 = 16, 48
13 = 14, 193
13 = 16, next 3rd
13 = 18, 83, 201
13, 71 = 19, 37, 104
13 = 19, 75
13, 110 = 18, 91, 116, 181
14 = 15, 110
14 = 21, 51
14 = 25, 59, 164
15 = 30, 62
15, 76 = 17, 66, 136
16 = 20, 89
16 = 27, 92, 200
16 = 28, 58
17 = 18, 158
17 = 20, 82, 191
17 = 21, 86, 198
17 = 21, 91
17, 120 = 19, 104
18 = 20, 116
18 = 21, 89
18 = 26, 89, 173
19 = 20, 119
19 = 29, 60
19 = 31, 97, 134, next 4th
19 = 41, next 1st
19 = 43, 109, next 1st
20 = 22, 140
20 = 26, 81
20 = 37, 64, 108
20, 156 = 28, 60
21 = 32, 96, 234
21, 84, 154 = 34, 48, 103
22 = 25, 155, next 3rd
22 = 30, 91, 193
22 = 36, next 1st
22 = 37, 68
22 = 43, 144, next 1st
22, 188 = 32, 63, 173
23 = 26, 105
23 = 34, 59
23, 217 = 28, 62
24 = 26, 123
24 = 27, 134
25 = 28, 163, 235
25 = 32, 96, 129
25 = 76, next 1st, next 4th
26 = 36, 87, 159
26 = 42, 73
27 = 39, 70, 142
27, 159 = 40, 71, 103, 138
28 = 110, next 1st
28 = 31, 127
28 = 41, 63
29 = 34, 98, 100
29 = 40, next 2nd
29, 112 = 46, 54, 94, 213
29, 90 = 38, 69, 125
30 = 36, 105, next 5th
30 = 36, 113
30 = 37, 67
33 = 36, 120
33 = 38, 105
33 = 40, 71
34 = 43, 74
35 = 53, 189, next 2nd
36 = 52, 75
36, 117 = 41, 75
36, 121 = 52, 78, 163, 222, 329
37 = 40, 118
37 = 40, 144
37 = 41, 113
37 = 52, 81
37 = 62, 93, 167, next 3rd
37, 139 = 47, 93, 148
38 = 40, 173
38 = 44, 107
38 = 55, 86
39 = 45, 116
39 = 50, 112
40 = 47, 74
40, 102 = 47, 78, 111
41 = 44, 121
41 = 46, 110
41 = 56, 87, 149
41 = 58, 81
41 = next 1st
41, 82, 110, 138 = 48, next 1st
42 = 126, next 1st
42 = next 1st
43 = 1st in two years
43 = 54, 84, next 6th
43, 152 = 47, 117
44 = 49, 107
44 = 56, 87
44 = 59, 73, 163
45 = 50, 120
45 = 53, 114
45 = 54, 121
46 = 52, 117
47, 235 = 63, 89, 191
47, 74 = 56, 58
48 = 50, 151
48 = 50, 173
49 = 53, 189, 211
49 = 60, 99
51 = 57, 120
51 = 58, 110
51 = next 1st
52 = 55, 125
52 = 56, 122
52 = 58, 158, next 7th
52, 96 = 56, 87
53 = 70, 81
53 = 84, 149, 175, 190
53, 195 = 67, 103, 178
54 = 65, 101
55 = 57, 190, 227
55 = 65, 100, 213
55 = 70, 102
56 = 82, 109, 250
57 = 76, 124, 149
58 = 66, 145
59 = 1st in two years
59, 161 = 68, 141, 173
60 = 79, 143, 172
60, 99 = 79, 98, 134, 150
61 = 68, 135
61 = 69, 102
61 = 74, 101
61 = 78, 114
63, 129 = 72, 104, 140
64 = 66, 176
64 = 82, 104
64 = 83, 95
64 = 84, 195, next 3rd
65 = 67, 195
65 = 73, 127
65 = 89, 115, 121
67 = 73, 145
67 = 88, 191, 229, next 6th
69 = 160, next 2nd
69 = 86, 119
70 = 72, 232
70 = 82, 115
70 = 85, 116
71 = 76, 220
71 = 84, 188
72 = 81, 152
72 = 86, 118
76 = 86, 119, 195
77 = 86, 156
78 = next 2nd
79 = 89, 118
79 = 94, 127
80 = 92, 125
80 = 94, 152
81, 151 = 139, next 2nd
82 = 108, 120, 227
82 = 88, 155
83, 262 = next 2nd
84 = 90, 160
86 = 101, 166, 203
86 = 119, 154
87 = 102, 153
88, 187 = next 2nd
89 = 115, 126
91 = 211, next 3rd
92 = 100, 156
92 = 111, next 4th
93 = 103, 124, 154
93 = 109, 183
94 = 102, 175
96 = 112, 139
96 = 112, 155
96 = 99, 171
97 = 112, 137
98 = 108, 132
98, next 7th = 113, 125
99 = 110, 138
99 = 110, 146
100 = 104, 213
102 = 106, 182
102 = 112, 142
102 = 113, 162
103 = 124, 157
104 = 112, 147
104 = 122, 155
104 = 125, 150, 225
104 = next 3rd
107 = 116, 165
107 = 121, 135
107 = 123, 163
109 = 113, 191
109 = 115, 185
110 = 115, 208
111 = 121, 196
111 = 122, 159, 235
111 = next 3rd
111 = next 3rd
112 = 119, 156
112 = 119, 192
112 = 120, 154
112 = 121, 170, 173
112 = next 3rd
115, 175 = 120, 158
116 = next 3rd
117 = 131, 144
117 = 139, 154
120 = 126, 169
120 = 128, 157
121 = 176, 233, next 3rd
122 = 147, 189
123 = 127, 185
123 = 130, 194
123 = 157, 166, 203
126 = 167, 175, 245
128 = 137, 217
132, next 6th = 148, next 4th
135 = 161, 162
137 = 150, 209
137 = 199, 203, 215
137 = next 4th
138 = 150, 189
138 = 158, 195
138 = 162, 197
138 = 215, next 4th
138 = next 4th
140 = 180, 222
143 = 155, 213
143 = 176, 193, 218
144 = 146, 218
144 = 155, 231
145 = 154, 186
145, 206 = next 4th
146, 163 = next 3rd
146, 218 = next 3rd
147 = 165, 203
148 = next 4th
149 = 180, 216
149 = 194, 198, 203
150 = 170, 209
150, 200 = 153, 189
152 = 156, next 6th
153 = 160, 222
153 = 160, 238
154 = 175, 231
154, 225 = 164, 201, 243
156 = 182, 206
157 = next 4th
157, 228 = 168, 180
159 = 175, 210
165 = 179, 218
166 = 185, 244
168 = 237, next 5th
170 = 187, 191
170 = next 5th
174 = 184, 207
174 = 186, 219
175 = 195, 246
175 = 230, next 5th
179 = 188, 226
181 = 226, 247
182 = 195, 233
182 = 205, 223
191 = next 5th
192 = next 5th
195 = 200, 234
197 = 213, 236
200 = next 6th
207 = 221, 253
209, 225 = 223, 232, 254
212 = next 6th
215 = next 6th
215, 219, 226 = next 4th
231 = next 6th
237 = next 6th
238 = next 6th
238 = next 6th
245 = next 6th


Values for trading up

Here's the same list (minus the Packers' 1997 trade from 193 to 213) in order of the highest pick traded by the team that traded up --

4, 65, next 1st, next 5th = 1
5, 36 = 1
6, 67, 102, 207 = 1
6, 28 = 4
7, 83 = 5
7, 37 = 6
8, 75, next 6th = 6
8, 104 = 6
9, 82, 222 = 7, 191
10, 78 = 7, 164
11, 41, 70, 100 = 3, 63
12, 24, 119, 154 = 3
12, 71, 107, 144, 179, 218, next 1st, next 3rd = 5
12, 63 = 6
12, 43, 63 = 7, 72
12, 71, 106, 143, next 3rd = 7
13, 22, 116 = 4
13, 144 = 12
13, 181 = 12
14, 83 = 11
14, 193 = 13
15, 56, 100 = 7
15, 45 = 10
15, 68 = 11
15, 110 = 14
16, 48 = 12
16, next 3rd = 13
17, 18, 54 = 6, 37, 102
17, 48, 109 = 9
17, 66, 136 = 15, 76
18, 91, 116, 181 = 13, 110
18, 83, 201 = 13
18, 158 = 17
19, 37, 104 = 13, 71
19, 75 = 13
19, 104 = 17, 120
20, 89 = 16
20, 82, 191 = 17
20, 116 = 18
20, 119 = 19
21, 51 = 14
21, 86, 198 = 17
21, 91 = 17
21, 89 = 18
22, 140 = 20
25, 59, 164 = 14
25, 155, next 3rd = 22
26, 71, 89, 125 = 8
26, 89, 173 = 18
26, 81 = 20
26, 105 = 23
26, 123 = 24
27, 92, 200 = 16
27, 134 = 24
28, 58 = 16
28, 60 = 20, 156
28, 62 = 23, 217
28, 163, 235 = 25
29, 60 = 19
30, 94, 119, next 1st = 10
30, 62 = 15
30, 91, 193 = 22
31, 97, 134, next 4th = 19
31, 127 = 28
32, 96, 234 = 21
32, 63, 173 = 22, 188
32, 96, 129 = 25
34, 48, 103 = 21, 84, 154
34, 59 = 23
34, 98, 100 = 29
36, next 1st = 22
36, 87, 159 = 26
36, 105, next 5th = 30
36, 113 = 30
36, 120 = 33
37, 64, 108 = 20
37, 68 = 22
37, 67 = 30
38, 69, 125 = 29, 90
38, 105 = 33
39, 70, 142 = 27
40, 71, 103, 138 = 27, 159
40, next 2nd = 29
40, 71 = 33
40, 118 = 37
40, 144 = 37
40, 173 = 38
41, next 1st = 19
41, 63 = 28
41, 75 = 36, 117
41, 113 = 37
42, 73 = 26
43, 109, next 1st = 19
43, 144, next 1st = 22
43, 74 = 34
44, 107 = 38
44, 121 = 41
45, 116 = 39
46, 54, 94, 213 = 29, 112
46, 110 = 41
47, 93, 148 = 37, 139
47, 78, 111 = 40, 102
47, 74 = 40
47, 117 = 43, 152
48, next 1st = 41, 82, 110, 138
49, 107 = 44
50, 112 = 39
50, 120 = 45
50, 151 = 48
50, 173 = 48
52, 78, 163, 222, 329 = 36, 121
52, 75 = 36
52, 81 = 37
52, 117 = 46
53, 189, next 2nd = 35
53, 114 = 45
53, 189, 211 = 49
54, 84, next 6th = 43
54, 121 = 45
55, 86 = 38
55, 125 = 52
56, 87, 149 = 41
56, 87 = 44
56, 58 = 47, 74
56, 87 = 52, 96
56, 122 = 52
57, 120 = 51
57, 190, 227 = 55
58, 81 = 41
58, 110 = 51
58, 158, next 7th = 52
59, 73, 163 = 44
60, 99 = 49
62, 93, 167, next 3rd = 37
63, 89, 191 = 47, 235
65, 101 = 54
65, 100, 213 = 55
66, 145 = 58
66, 176 = 64
67, 103, 178 = 53, 195
67, 195 = 65
68, 141, 173 = 59, 161
68, 135 = 61
69, 102 = 61
70, 81 = 53
70, 102 = 55
72, 104, 140 = 63, 129
72, 232 = 70
73, 127 = 65
73, 145 = 67
74, 101 = 61
76, next 1st, next 4th = 25
76, 124, 149 = 57
76, 220 = 71
78, 114 = 61
79, 98, 134, 150 = 60, 99
79, 143, 172 = 60
81, 152 = 72
82, 109, 250 = 56
82, 104 = 64
82, 115 = 70
83, 95 = 64
84, 149, 175, 190 = 53
84, 195, next 3rd = 64
84, 188 = 71
85, 116 = 70
86, 119 = 69
86, 118 = 72
86, 119, 195 = 76
86, 156 = 77
88, 191, 229, next 6th = 67
88, 155 = 82
89, 115, 121 = 65
89, 118 = 79
90, 160 = 84
92, 125 = 80
94, 127 = 79
94, 152 = 80
99, 171 = 96
100, 156 = 92
101, 166, 203 = 86
102, 153 = 87
102, 175 = 94
103, 124, 154 = 93
104, 213 = 100
106, 182 = 102
108, 120, 227 = 82
108, 132 = 98
109, 183 = 93
110, 138 = 99
110, 146 = 99
111, next 4th = 92
112, 139 = 96
112, 155 = 96
112, 137 = 97
112, 142 = 102
112, 147 = 104
113, 125 = 98, next 7th
113, 162 = 102
113, 191 = 109
115, 126 = 89
115, 185 = 109
115, 208 = 110
116, 165 = 107
119, 154 = 86
119, 156 = 112
119, 192 = 112
120, 154 = 112
120, 158 = 115, 175
121, 135 = 107
121, 196 = 111
121, 170, 173 = 112
122, 155 = 104
122, 159, 235 = 111
123, 163 = 107
124, 157 = 103
125, 150, 225 = 104
126, 169 = 120
127, 185 = 123
128, 157 = 120
130, 194 = 123
131, 144 = 117
137, 217 = 128
139, 154 = 117
139, next 2nd = 81, 151
146, 218 = 144
147, 189 = 122
148, next 4th = 132, next 6th
150, 209 = 137
150, 189 = 138
153, 189 = 150, 200
154, 186 = 145
155, 213 = 143
155, 231 = 144
156, next 6th = 152
157, 166, 203 = 123
158, 195 = 138
160, 222 = 153
160, 238 = 153
161, 162 = 135
162, 197 = 138
164, 201, 243 = 154, 225
165, 203 = 147
167, 175, 245 = 126
168, 180 = 157, 228
170, 209 = 150
175, 231 = 154
175, 210 = 159
176, 233, next 3rd = 121
176, 193, 218 = 143
179, 218 = 165
180, 222 = 140
180, 216 = 149
182, 206 = 156
184, 207 = 174
185, 244 = 166
186, 219 = 174
187, 191 = 170
188, 226 = 179
194, 198, 203 = 149
195, 246 = 175
195, 233 = 182
199, 203, 215 = 137
200, 234 = 195
205, 223 = 182
211, next 3rd = 91
213, 236 = 197
215, next 4th = 138
221, 253 = 207
223, 232, 254 = 209, 225
226, 247 = 181
230, next 5th = 175
237, next 5th = 168
next 1st, 110 = 28
next 1st = 41
next 1st, 126 = 42
next 1st = 42
next 1st = 51
next 2nd, 160 = 69
next 2nd = 78
next 2nd = 83, 262
next 2nd = 88, 187
next 3rd = 104
next 3rd = 111
next 3rd = 111
next 3rd = 112
next 3rd = 116
next 3rd = 146, 163
next 3rd = 146, 218
next 4th = 137
next 4th = 138
next 4th = 145, 206
next 4th = 148
next 4th = 157
next 4th = 215, 219, 226
next 5th = 170
next 5th = 191
next 5th = 192
next 6th = 200
next 6th = 212
next 6th = 215
next 6th = 231
next 6th = 237
next 6th = 238
next 6th = 238
next 6th = 245
1st in two years = 43
1st in two years = 59