Dolphins Receive Three Compensatory Draft Picks
The Sun Sentinel broke the news Friday afternoon that the Miami Dolphins will receive three compensatory picks for the upcoming 2017 NFL Draft.
The Sun Sentinel‘s Omar Kelly reported on Friday that the Miami Dolphins will receive three compensatory picks in the 2017 NFL Draft. This is great news for Dolphins fans, as initially, Miami was expected to only receive two comp picks.
The additional picks now give Miami seven total draft selections in the upcoming draft. After the Dolphins traded a seventh rounder to Jacksonville for TE Julius Thomas, Miami had just four selections prior to the announcement. During last year’s draft, the Dolphins traded this year’s 3rd and 4th round selections, in addition, to last season’s 6th round pick to the Minnesota Vikings as part of the process in order to move up and select WR Leonte Carroo.
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The compensatory picks are a result of losing both Olivier Vernon, Lamar Miller, and Rishard Matthews, in last year’s free agency. All three players played well enough for their respective teams in the eyes of the league to warrant the Dolphins with three additional picks. The three additional picks are a third-rounder and two fifth-rounders. Kelly further elaborated on how the picks were distributed to the Dolphins:
"Miami got the first third-round compensatory pick for losing Vernon, who received the largest free-agent contract last offseason…The Dolphins were given the 180th and 186th picks for the loss of Miller, who rushed for 1,073 yards and six touchdowns in Houston, and Matthews, who caught 65 passes for 945 yards and scored nine touchdowns with the Titans."
The pick for Vernon is the highest awarded comp pick the league hands out (97th overall). You have to think that the Dolphins were counting on compensatory picks when they agreed in principle to trade for Thomas. Even so, they have to be somewhat surprised to receive three. Now that they know exactly where they will be selecting, Miami can turn their attention to filling pivotal needs, primarily on defense. The Dolphins are sure to be big players once free agency hits, but now they have the necessary amount of draft picks to fill out other spots. A strong offseason so far for the Dolphins, and it’s not even officially underway.