Cowboys Get Compensatory Picks; How Much Help In 2024 NFL Draft?

The Dallas Cowboys will get some sorely-needed draft capital to help reload with.

More than a week after another devastating playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys are back to the drawing board once more.

There's a long way to go before the 2024 NFL Draft in late April, but there's no question that the folks in Dallas' front office are looking forward to it. After all, the Cowboys have been one of the league's best-drafting teams over the past several years, snagging many of their cornerstone players straight out of college.

This year, though, the Cowboys aren't exactly swimming in draft capital as they currently have just five picks to work with. They have their own first, second, third and seventh-round picks, as well as another seventh from the Las Vegas Raiders as part of the Johnathan Hankins trade.

As for their fourth, fifth and sixth-round picks, they've all been traded away. The fourth went to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for Trey Lance, the fifth went to the Kansas City Chiefs as part of a draft-day trade last year and the sixth went to the Houston Texans in the Brandin Cooks deal, although that pick now belongs to the Buffalo Bills.

Fortunately for the Cowboys, they are projected to get two compensatory picks due to free agents leaving last offseason.

According to Over The Cap, the Cowboys are in line to receive a fifth and a sixth-round pick, based on the salaries their former players signed for. The fifth comes from offensive lineman Connor McGovern, who signed a three-year, $22.35-million deal with the Bills. Meanwhile, the sixth comes from tight end Dalton Schultz, who signed a one-year deal with the Texans worth $6.25 million.

Dallas would've also received an extra seventh-round pick from receiver Noah Brown, who signed a one-year, $2.6-million deal with the Texans. However, the Cowboys aren't expected to actually get that pick due to the NFL only awarding 32 total compensatory selections in a single draft.

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Compensatory selections are always at the end of a given round, so it's not as if the Cowboys are getting their exact picks back. That said, there's never such a thing as too many draft picks.