For the second straight year, the Steelers have gotten no compensatory draft picks. That should change in 2020.
The Steelers will lose running back Le’Veon Bell to free agency. As long as they end up with net losses in unrestricted free agency, Bell’s departure could give Pittsburgh as much as a third-round compensatory pick.
The Steelers could have gotten a compensatory pick for Bell in 2019, if they had rescinded the franchise tender from Bell during the 2018 season. However, because they had signed a pair of UFAs (linebacker Jon Bostic and safety Morgan Burnett) and lost only one (tackle Chris Hubbard), they would have had to cut Bostic or Burnett by Week 10 to have net losses in unrestricted free agency.
Some teams have mastered the compensatory draft process, with the Ravens racking up 50 over the years by: (1) fully understanding the formula; and (2) planning all moves with an eye toward maximizing their extra draft picks. Those extra picks essentially become free tickets to the Great Player Lottery.
The Steelers get no extra tickets this year. But with a great player walking away in free agency soon, they can do that next year -- as long as they don’t get too aggressive in buying up other team’s unrestricted free agents. With, however, plenty of pending UFAs (they recently re-signed defensive end Tyson Alualu), the losses should outweigh the gains.
