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Cardinals Could Land Three Compensatory Draft Picks

NFL will likely announce selections sometime in March

Wide receiver A.J. Green, here diving for a touchdown against the Vikings, played well enough to cancel out the loss of cornerback Patrick Peterson in terms of a compensatory draft pick.
Wide receiver A.J. Green, here diving for a touchdown against the Vikings, played well enough to cancel out the loss of cornerback Patrick Peterson in terms of a compensatory draft pick.

The Cardinals could be awarded as many as three extra draft picks for the 2022 draft.

Overthecap.com's Nick Korte, who works the formula each year, put out his projections on Monday. They are only projections, and the NFL isn't expected to put out the official list until March.

But according to Korte, the Cardinals are expected to get an extra sixth-round pick for losing running back Kenyan Drake and two extra seventh-rounders after tight end Dan Arnold and defensive lineman Angelo Blackson signed elsewhere.

The two highest-profile free agent losses from a year ago -- cornerback Patrick Peterson and pass rusher Haason Reddick -- could have been worth a fifth- and sixth-round pick, but were cancelled out by the signings of wide receiver A.J. Green and kicker Matt Prater, respectively.

Comp picks are determined via a non-public formula of free-agent players lost versus players signed, with the monetary value of the contracts signed, playing time and various accolades earned over the season figured in.

Two of the biggest offseason additions for the Cardinals did not count against them: defensive lineman J.J. Watt signed as a free agent but only after he was released and not because his contract ran out; center Rodney Hudson was acquired in trade.

Before the comp picks, the Cardinals have five original 2022 draft picks: first round, second round, third round, sixth round and seventh round. The Cardinals traded their fourth-round pick as part of the package to move up to draft cornerback Marco Wilson in 2021; they traded their fifth-round pick as part of the package to get tight end Zach Ertz in October.

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