Since compensatory draft picks began to be dispersed in 1994, the NFL has awarded the New England Patriots with 34 of them, a tally which stands fourth-highest behind only the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Ravens.
The Patriots collected another on Friday, as the league announced the organization will receive a fifth-rounder at No. 185 overall for last March’s free-agent addition of linebacker Shea McClellin and departures of defensive tackle Akiem Hicks and safety Tavon Wilson.
And, as a byproduct of the midseason trade of linebacker Jamie Collins to the Cleveland Browns, the Patriots will also unofficially hold the rights to Cleveland’s third-round compensatory pick at No. 103 overall.
With the way things are currently constituted, that brings New England to a total of seven picks within the first five rounds this April.
Safe to say the compensatory formula, which factors in a player’s salary, playing time, and postseason honors with their new club, has been kind to the Patriots. Not all of whom have panned out over the years. But since Bill Belichick returned to Foxborough in 2000, New England’s war room has had a bevy of opportunities to draft players that potentially could.
The Patriots have made 31 compensatory picks over Belichick’s 17-draft span.
Four-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady was the second one.
As for the others, here’s a full rundown of the Patriots’ compensatory picks in the Belichick era.
COMPENSATORY PICKS SINCE 2000
2016: Round 3, No. 96 – Vincent Valentine, DT, Nebraska
2016: Round 6, No. 208 – Kamu Grugier-Hill, LB, Eastern Illinois
2016: Round 6, No. 214 – Elandon Roberts, LB, Houston
2016: Round 6, No. 221 – Ted Karras, G, Illinois
2015: Round 3, No. 97 – Geneo Grissom, DE, Oklahoma
2015: Round 7, No. 253 – Xzavier Dickson, DE, Alabama
2014: Round 4, No. 140 – Cameron Fleming, OT, Stanford
2010: Round 6, No. 205 – Ted Larsen, C, North Carolina State
2010: Round 7, No. 247 – Brandon Deaderick, DT, Alabama
2010: Round 7, No. 248 – Kade Weston, DT, Georgia
2010: Round 7, No. 250 – Zac Robinson, QB, Oklahoma State
2009: Round 3, No. 97 – Tyrone McKenzie, LB, South Florida
2009: Round 5, No. 170 – George Bussey, G, Louisville
2009: Round 6, No. 207 – Myron Pryor, DT, Kentucky
2007: Round 5, No. 171 – Clint Oldenburg, OT, Colorado State
2007: Round 6, No. 208 – Justise Hairston, RB, Central Connecticut
2007: Round 6, No. 209 – Corey Hilliard, OT, Oklahoma State
2007: Round 7, No. 247 – Mike Elgin, C, Iowa
2006: Round 6, No. 205 – Dan Stevenson, G, Notre Dame
2006: Round 6, No. 206 – Le Kevin Smith, DT, Nebraska
2005: Round 3, No. 100 – Nick Kaczur, OT, Toledo
2005: Round 5, No. 170 – Ryan Claridge, LB, UNLV
2005: Round 7, No. 255 – Andy Stokes, TE, William Penn
2002: Round 7, No. 253 – David Givens, WR, Notre Dame
2001: Round 5, No. 163 – Hakim Akbar, S, Washington
2001: Round 6, No. 200 – Leonard Myers, CB, Miami
2001: Round 7, No. 239 – T.J. Turner, LB, Michigan State
2000: Round 4, No. 127 – Greg Randall, OT, Michigan State
2000: Round 6, No. 199 – Tom Brady, QB, Michigan
2000: Round 6, No. 201 – David Nugent, DE, Purdue
2000: Round 7, No. 239 – Patrick Pass, FB, Georgia
Beyond the sixth-round outlier that is Brady, an additional five compensatory draftees remain on New England’s roster. That group includes Fleming, Grissom, Karras, Roberts and Valentine, who have collectively appeared in 102 games for the team while starting 22.
Some other prominent names from the trip down memory lane are Pass and Givens, who have a hand’s worth of Super Bowl rings combined from their respective tenures in New England in the early 2000s, and Kazcur, who started on the Patriots’ line across five seasons.
Perhaps the list isn’t a decorated one. But it is a long one. And at the very least, the Patriots will have the chance to add to it as the third and fifth rounds draw to a close this year.