As NFL free agency and the 2026 league year was beginning earlier this week, compensatory picks were unveiled, of which the Cleveland Browns did not have any. From 1994-2025, the Browns have a league-low 14 compensatory picks. Granted, Cleveland missed a year years as a franchise during that span, but those years wouldn’t have made much of a difference.
Each year, we like to look back at why the Browns did or didn’t receive compensatory picks. In short, it comes down to a net gain and net loss of a team’s free agents who were lost (and signed by another team) versus those who were signed by your team. It does not apply to players who were terminated or cut. If you end up having a net loss, you may be awarded some compensatory picks. The players also have to of been ranked in the Top 35% of all players, which Over the Cap explains here.
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For example, the Baltimore Ravens were awarded four compensatory picks this year. They lost five players in free agency last year (Malik Harrison, Josh Jones, Patrick Mekari, Brandon Stephens, and Tre’Davious White). They gained one player in DeAndre Hopkins. The net loss was four, so they added four compensatory picks. There are some more nuances to the formula, such as contract values to determine what degree of compensatory picks you receive, but it’s the basic formula.
Browns’ Free Agent Losses in 2025 – Two Players
The Browns had also lost WR Elijah Moore and CB Mike Ford, but they weren’t deemed to be valuable enough in the Top 35% of ranked players.
Browns’ Free Agent Gains in 2025 – Five Players
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Cleveland had a net gain of three unrestricted free agents last offseason, thus they were awarded no compensatory picks in 2026. The whole purpose of compensatory picks is to compensate a team for overall losses they suffered in free agency.
Time will tell whether the Browns set themselves up for compensatory picks in 2027, which is based on what they do in free agency for 2026. The Browns have gained two players (Zion Johnson and Quincy Williams), but only lost one (Devin Bush) who qualify. You might ask why a guy like Elgton Jenkins does not count — it’s because the Packers released him, as opposed to his contract expiring. On the flip side, the Browns also terminated the contracts of David Njoku, Wyatt Teller, and Jack Conklin, so if another team signs them, Cleveland would not benefit via the formula. And then the likes of Jerome Ford and Cameron Thomas are not valuable enough of free agents (that 35% rule) to count toward the formula.
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