The Steelers started this week with seven picks in the 2010 NFL Draft, and after the league was finished awarding 32 compensatory selections on Monday, they had 10.
Under terms of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, a team losing more or better compensatory free agents than it acquires in the previous year is eligible to receive compensatory draft picks. And so, as a result of losing QB Byron Leftwich, WR Nate Washington and CB Bryant McFadden as unrestricted free agents – and signing none – the Steelers ended up with two extra picks in the fifth round and one extra in the seventh round.
The Steelers' two picks in the fifth will be the 33rd and 35th in the round, which correspond to the 164th and 166th overall selections. Their extra pick in the seventh is the 35th of the round, the 242nd of the draft.
A total of 32 compensatory choices in the 2010 NFL Draft were awarded to 19 teams.
The number of picks a team receives equals the net loss of compensatory free agents up to a maximum of four. The 32 compensatory choices announced today will supplement the 223 choices in the seven rounds of the 2010 NFL Draft (April 22-24). This year, the compensatory picks will fall between the end of the third round through the end of the seventh.
Cincinnati, Tennessee and Atlanta were the only teams to get picks in the third round, and the Bengals were the lone team to receive a pick in the fourth round. The Steelers (with two), Falcons, Vikings, Chargers and Packers got picks in the fifth round.
