After losing former Pro Bowl edge rushers Matthew Judon and Yannick Ngakoue last offseason, the Ravens have officially received a pair of fourth-round compensatory picks in the 2022 NFL draft.
The awarding of the 139th and 141st overall choices came as no surprise with Judon signing a four-year, $56 million contract with New England and Ngakoue inking a two-year, $26 million deal with Las Vegas last March. Baltimore also received the last of two third-round compensatory picks (100th overall) for the Houston Texans hiring ex-Ravens assistant David Culley as their head coach last year, a position the 66-year-old held for only the 2021 season.
The Ravens officially have 10 picks in next month’s draft: a first-round selection (14th overall), a second, two thirds, five fourth-round choices, and a sixth. The first four picks are in the top 100 selections with the first nine falling in the top 150, meaning general manager Eric DeCosta should have a good opportunity to augment a roster that’s becoming more and more expensive at the top.
“If we have 100 players ranked, we feel like all of those nine picks will probably come within our top 80 players,” DeCosta said last month. “If we do our job correctly, if we stack the board the right way, if we’re able to play the combinations correctly — what I mean by that is drafting the players with an eye toward maximizing each pick positionally — I think we have a really good chance to build some serious and quality depth to help this team be the best it can be.”
Determinations for compensatory picks are based on a formula considering the salary, playing time, and postseason honors earned by unrestricted free agents leaving their teams the previous offseason. Since the compensatory pick program began in 1994, the Ravens have led the NFL with 55 compensatory choices as the organization has frequently resisted signing unrestricted free agents while making difficult decisions not to re-sign their own.
Below is a history of the Ravens’ compensatory picks since 1996 with the round in which the player was selected noted in parentheses:
1996: none
1997: LB Cornell Brown (sixth), QB Wally Richardson (seventh), S Ralph Staten (seventh), DT Leland Taylor (seventh)
1998: TE Cam Qualey (seventh)
1999: G Edwin Mulitalo (fourth)
2000: none
2001: none
2002: WR Javin Hunter (sixth), RB Chester Taylor (sixth), S Chad Williams (sixth)
2003: FB Ovie Mughelli (fourth), OT Tony Pashos (fifth), C Mike Mabry (seventh), S Antwoine Sanders (seventh)
2004: WR Clarence Moore (sixth), WR Derek Abney (seventh), G Brian Rimpf (seventh)
2005: QB Derek Anderson (sixth)
2006: RB P.J. Daniels (fourth), TE Quinn Sypniewski (fifth), P Sam Koch (sixth), CB Derrick Martin (sixth)
2007: LB Antwan Barnes (fourth), FB Le’Ron McClain (fourth), QB Troy Smith (fifth), LB Prescott Burgess (sixth)
2008: OL Oniel Cousins (third), OL David Hale (fourth), S Haruki Nakamura (sixth), RB Allen Patrick (seventh)
2009: none
2010: none
2011: CB Chykie Brown (fifth), DE Pernell McPhee (fifth)
2012: S Christian Thompson (fourth), CB Asa Jackson (fifth)
2013: FB Kyle Juszczyk (fourth), OT Rick Wagner (fifth), OL Ryan Jensen (sixth), CB Marc Anthony (seventh)
2014: TE Crockett Gillmore (third), DE Brent Urban (fourth), RB Lorenzo Taliaferro (fourth), G John Urschel (fifth)
2015: CB Tray Walker (fourth), TE Nick Boyle (fifth), G Robert Myers (fifth)
2016: DT Willie Henry (fourth), RB Kenneth Dixon (fourth), CB Maurice Canady (sixth)
2017: Traded third-round compensatory pick and DT Timmy Jernigan for Philadelphia’s third-round pick used to select DE Chris Wormley
2018: OL Bradley Bozeman (sixth)
2019: Traded third-round compensatory pick and two sixth-round picks for Minnesota’s third-round pick used to select WR Miles Boykin
2020: OL Tyre Phillips (third), G Ben Bredeson (fourth)
2021: DB Brandon Stephens (third), FB Ben Mason (fifth)
