Panthers will get two additional NFL draft picks this year
The Panthers will have two additional picks in the 2021 NFL draft.
The NFL announced the compensatory picks Wednesday, giving the Panthers two more sixth-round picks — picks Nos. 221 and No. 225 overall.
The total list of compensatory free agents lost for the Panthers include Mario Addison, James Bradberry, Vernon Butler, Bruce Irvin, Gerald McCoy, Greg Van Roten and Daryl Williams. Butler and Williams played a significant amount of snaps for the Buffalo Bills, which helped the Panthers gain the sixth-round picks as the other losses were null based on the additions in free agency.
The compensatory free agents signed were Robby Anderson, Teddy Bridgewater, Juston Burris, Seth Roberts and Stephen Weatherly.
A total of 36 compensatory draft selections were awarded to 17 teams.
Carolina now has eight draft picks, including three in the sixth round. The only round the Panthers do not have a pick is in the seventh, with that pick going to the Bills from a trade of Marshall Newhouse in 2018.
The additional draft picks are awarded from rounds 3-6 and are based on the league formula for players that left to sign elsewhere that takes in a variety of factors, including average salary per year, snap counts and postseason awards.
To be in line for compensatory picks, teams have to end up with more free agents lost than gained in a year. That was the case for the Panthers in 2020 with multiple starters signing elsewhere in the offseason.
This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Panthers will get two additional NFL draft picks this year."
