Colts Gain Compensatory Seventh-Round Pick in 2015 NFL Draft

The NFL handed out compensatory picks for the 2015 NFL Draft at the owner's meetings tonight, and the Indianapolis Colts gained an additional seventh round pick in the upcoming draft.  Their additional pick will be number 255 overall (the 38th pick in the seventh round).

Compensatory picks are handed out based on players that a team lost in free agency, weighed against players the team signed in free agency.  It's a complex system to figure out and in fact it's unknown to most, but people can guess on what goes in to it.  There are 32 of these picks given out, and they cannot be traded.  The individual player that is drafted with the pick can be traded, but the pick itself cannot be traded away.

For the Colts, here are the free agents that factored into the equation when it came to the compensatory picks.  They lost safety Antoine Bethea, running back Donald Brown, and linebacker Kavell Conner in free agency, while signing defensive lineman Arthur Jones and wide receiver Hakeem Nicks.  The NFL's calculations awarded the Colts one pick as a result.

The Colts will now have nine picks in the 2015 NFL Draft and will look to address some of their remaining holes (particularly on the defensive side of the football).  Picking up a pick such as the 255th overall selection essentially allows the Colts to add a guy they would otherwise have targeted as an undrafted free agent, without letting that player hit the market.