The Bears added one more pick in the upcoming NFL Draft when they were granted a seventh-round compensatory selection Thursday. That gives them nine total, starting with No. 1 overall.
Compensatory picks are given to teams for significant departures in free agency, though the Bears didn’t have any free agents leave for major contracts last offseason.
Their late comp pick, which will be No. 258 overall, likely is what the collective bargaining agreement calls a “supplemental” comp pick. The NFL gives exactly 32 comp picks each year, and if the formula awards fewer than 32, additional picks go to the worst teams in the league until the total hits 32.
General manager Ryan Poles is happy to have the pick, of course, and he loaded up on late-round selections through trades last year. He took eight players in the fifth round or later, including starting left tackle Braxton Jones and punter Trenton Gill.
The Bears have one pick in each of the first three rounds (Nos. 1, 53 and 64 overall), two in the fourth, two in the fifth and two in the seventh.
