Patriots Receive Four Compensatory Draft Picks

Because the NFL front office is neither familiar with science nor with a fair and consistent investigative process, the New England Patriots will enter next month's draft without a first round selection. Naturally, due to the absence of their pick on day one, the Patriots' other selections become even more important.

Luckily, the team's draft capital has received a boost today and the Patriots will enter the event with more draft picks than their original ones: as the league announced today, New England received four additional picks through the NFL's compensatory formula.

The selections awarded are as follows:

Round 3, pick 96

Round 6, pick 208

Round 6, pick 214

Round 6, pick 221

The Patriots received the additional four choices, the maximum possible, as compensation for their losses during last year's free agency period. While the team did sign Jabaal Sheard, it did also lose some highly coveted and highly priced members of its Super Bowl XLIX-winning squad: Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, Vince Wilfork, Shane Vereen, Akeem Ayers and Jonathan Casillas all left Foxboro for greener pastures.

Overall, the Patriots' 2016 draft picks now look like this:

Round 2, pick 60

Round 3, pick 91

Round 3, pick 96

Round 4, pick 117

Round 6, pick 196

Round 6, pick 208

Round 6, pick 214

Round 6, pick 221

Round 7, pick 243

Round 7, pick 250