The Minnesota Vikings were awarded three compensatory picks in the 2020 NFL Draft on Tuesday. Among the compensatory picks were a third-round selection (No. 105) and two seven-round selections (Nos. 245 & 253), which bumps their total in April’s draft to 10 picks.
The compensatory pick system, which includes 32 extra selections, helps maintain balance for teams that lose players during the free agency process. Last offseason, the Vikings lost four players (Sheldon Richardson, Trevor Siemian, Nick Easton and Tom Compton) in free agency, but added Shamar Stephen, which helped the Vikings acquire said picks.
With the added bonus that the compensatory picks can be traded, a change that was instituted prior to the 2017 NFL Draft, General Manager Rick Spielman has to like his ammunition heading into this year’s draft, especially with the addition of a second third-round selection.
“They’ve become extremely valuable, especially since they changed the rule on being able to trade those picks,” Spielman told the team’s official website. “They’ve given you more ability to move up and down in the draft by moving those picks.”
With 10 selections in hand, here is where the Vikings will select in the 2020 NFL Draft barring draft-day trades.
- Round 1: No. 25 overall
- Round 2: No. 58 overall
- Round 3: Nos. 89 & 105 overall
- Round 4: No. 132 overall
- Round 5: No selection (Pick traded for Kaare Vedvik)
- Round 6: No. 206 overall
- Round 7: Nos. 220, 240, 250 and 254 overall
