The Miami Dolphins will be getting a fourth-round compensatory pick in the 2026 NFL draft. Or they won’t.
What we do know is the answer won’t come until next March because that’s when the league officially awards the compensatory picks.
But projecting comp picks has been an annual exercise, and there were two different interpretations Friday, with OverTheCap.com saying the Dolphins would be getting that fourth-round comp pick for the loss of Jevon Holland and NFL.com saying the Dolphins would not be getting one.
Compensatory picks are awarded to those teams that suffer a net loss of compensatory free agents the previous year and the key term there is “compensatory free agent.” Those players, per the 2020 CBA, are UFAs who switch teams and fall among the top 35 percent of all league players in terms of average annual compensation, with postseason accolades and playing also factored.
The Dolphins signed a dozen unrestricted free agent this offseason, but only four who figure to have a chance to become compensatory free agents — James Daniels, Zach Wilson, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Ifeatu Melifonwu — based on their average annual compensation.
On the flip side, the Dolphins have lost three clear compensatory free agents in Holland, Calais Campbell, Robert Jones and most recently Emmanuel Ogbah signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The question for the Dolphins will be whether Westbrook-Ikhine and Melifonwu eventually will be compensatory free agents once the 2025 season is over and all the factors can be compiled because their annual average compensation of $3 million puts them right around the cut-off point, according to Over The Cap.
With Ogbah reportedly getting $3.25 million on his one-year contract with Jacksonville, he’s more likely to end up qualifying as a compensatory free agent.
The Dolphins also could wind up getting two third-round picks — one in 2026 and one in 2027 — if defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver lands a head-coaching position next offseason.
The Dolphins, of course, had three compensatory picks in the just-completed 2025 draft — one each in the third, fourth and seventh rounds.
The Dolphins used the third- and fourth-rounders in the trade up to get guard Jonah Savaiinaea; they used the seventh-rounder on DT Zeek Biggers.
This marked the first time since 2020 that the Dolphins were awarded a compensatory pick, who are given out on the basis on net compensatory free agent losses the previous years.
The Dolphins also got a third-round compensatory pick for the first time since 2017 when they got one for the free agent departure the previous year of defensive end Olivier Vernon, who had signed with the New York Giants after the Dolphins placed but then rescinded the transition tag. With that comp pick, the Dolphins selected Clemson cornerback Cordrea Tankersley.
The Dolphins received two compensatory picks in 2020, one in the fourth and in the seventh.
The fourth-round selection was used in a trade-up to select guard Solomon Kindley from Georgia, while the seventh-round pick was traded to Seattle for a 2021 sixth-round pick that was sent to the Chicago Bears in a trade for tight end Adam Shaheen.
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