The NFL giveth and the NFL taketh away.
That’s one way to look at the league announcement Friday that the Miami Dolphins indeed would get three compensatory picks in the 2025 NFL draft, not four as announced earlier in the week.
The mistake the NFL made was included wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. in the formula involving net loss of compensatory free agents last offseason in awarding the compensatory picks.
The loss of Wilson to the New Orleans Saints produced the second seventh-round compensatory pick the NFL awarded the Dolphins based on his new annual average salary, but there was one problem.
Wilson was never eligible to be a compensatory free agent because the Dolphins added a void year to his contract when they restructured his deal in 2023, so technically he was released by the Dolphins last offseason instead of becoming an unrestricted free agent.
It’s the same thing that applied to wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. after he was released by the Baltimore Ravens last offseason.
So the end result is the Dolphins got three compensatory picks, giving them a total of 10 selections in the 2025 draft.
The “lost” compensatory pick was to be the 256th overall, and next-to-last, in the draft. The Dolphins now will have one comp pick in the seventh round — the 253rd overall.
The Dolphins now join the L.A. Chargers, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks as team with three comp picks in the 2025 draft; the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys each were awarded four; and the Buffalo Bills were among four teams who got two.
The other AFC East teams, the New England Patriots and New York Jets, were among the teams shut out in the compensatory pick pool.
The Dolphins got the second-highest compensatory pick, the 34th pick of the third round for the free agent loss of Robert Hunt. That pick will be the 98th overall in the draft.
The Dolphins got the first compensatory pick of the fourth round for the loss of Christian Wilkins, and that one also might have been a third-round selection had Wilkins not gotten injured last season with the Las Vegas Raiders — based on the complicated comensatory pick formula that factors annual salary, playing time and postseason accolades. This pick will be the 135th overall.
The Dolphins’ compensatory pick in the seventh round will be the 37th in the round and 253rd overall.
The Dolphins got the compensatory pick bounty as the result of their net loss in compensatory free agents last offseason.
The Dolphins signed four CFAs — center Aaron Brewer, linebacker Jordan Brooks and cornerback Kendall Fuller — but lost seven.
Along with Hunt and Wilkins, the free agent losses that factored in the compensatory pick formula for Miami were DT Raekwon Davis, S DeShon Elliott, S Brandon Jones and LB Andrew Van Ginkel.
Round 1 — 13th overall
Round 2 — 48th overall (16th in round)
Round 3 — 98th overall (34th in round)*
Round 4 — 116th overall (14th in round); 135th overall (33rd in round)*
Round 5 — 150th overall (14th in round); 155th overall (19th in round)
Round 6 — None
Round 7 — 224th overall (8th in round); 231st overall (15th in round); 253rd overall (37th in round)
Round 3 — The Dolphins traded the 79th overall pick (15th in round) to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2024 fourth-round pick used to select RB Jaylen Wright
Round 5 — The Dolphins acquired the 155th overall pick (17th in round) from the Denver Broncos as part of the 2022 trade that brought OLB Bradley Chubb to Miami
Round 6 — The Dolphins traded the 192nd overall pick (16th in round) to the Chicago Bears as part of the 2023 trade for WR Chase Claypool
Round 7 — The Dolphins acquired the 224th overall pick (8th in round) from the Chicago Bears as part of the Claypool trade
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